Everything looks better with a beer
by odg
Summary: Our favourite couples reflect over their lives as they drink a beer. Set after 6x16 Secrets and Lies. Pairings: Nick/Tess, Alex/Stevie
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Everything looks better with a beer**

**Summary: The boys and their girls reflect over their lifes as they drink a beer**

**Pairings: Nick and Tess, Alex and Stevie**

**Rated: T**

**Set after 6x16 Secrets and Lies, but episode 8x08 Close enough to touch never existed, so Alex never died**

**Part 1**

"I know that you're really tired and confused right now, but the only way to get over that huge jet lag that you're suffering is trying to get into the argentinian routine as soon as possible. So now is time for lunch, no sleeping for the two of you until you have eaten properly. Come on Fiona give me a hand".

Alex saw his sister in law get his wife by the arm and go to the kitchen in her house in Buenos Aires as if it was a dream, his foggy mind trying to process what Tess had just said. He noticed that Nick had sat in the easy chair in front of him and now was trying to get his attention tapping gently in his forearm.

"Tess is right. When I first came here I had this huge jetlag for three long days, I couldn't eat or sleep properly and to make my confusion even worse everyone talked to me in Spanish, so I felt like I was living a nightmare", Nick saw his brother trying very hard to focus on his words so he paused to let his words get in his mind. Slowly Alex nodded making him know that he had understood what he had said, "so when Tess first arrived here, I tried another tactic to make her get over it, so instead of letting her go to bed and sleep, I made her lunch and forced her to be awake for more than 10 hours, so when we got to bed she was so exhausted that she slept for 12 hours in a row. When she woke up the next day, she was fresh and ready to start our new life in Buenos Aires".

Alex felt a terrible headache coming and just nodded and closed his eyes to rest. He heard Nick sigh and quietly call his name, "I know, I know no sleeping until lunch...", he said quite crankily.

"Do you want a cold beer? I have bought this tasty Argentinian beer and I want your opinion on..."

Alex opened his eyes and looked at his watch, he had to focus twice to see the time "For God sake, Nick it's 2 a.m. How in hell do you want me to drink a beer now?!"

Nick smiled and raising an eyebrow just replied, "Alex, it's only 1 p.m. here in Buenos Aires. Since when the time has been a problem for you to drink a beer?. If my memory serves me right you always were the last one to leave the pub. I remember once Brian had to call Constable Cook because you and the boys didn't want to leave until you had the last but one"

"Yeah, yeah... That was ancient history and now I'm a respectable married man, not the root rat I used to be. But if that in itself isn't enough for you, I have been travelling for more than twenty hours in my honeymoon to the other side of the world to see my brother and right now all I want is to go to bed and sleep for a week. But he and my bossy sister in law don't let me because..." and then mimicking Tess' voice "I've to get over that huge jet lag"

Nick burst out laughing, "You know, I've never thought I'd see the day Alex Ryan refused a cold beer because he was exhausted or, even better, MARRIED..." he said laughing even louder.

"What are you laughing about, Nick?". Alex saw how his brother rose from his chair and went to Tess' side, she looked from Nick to Alex and as she saw the look of mortification in his brother in law's face she chastised her husband "come on Nick, don't tease your brother. Lunch is ready, so do something useful and set the table"

Nick kissed his wife on the cheek and put his left hand gently in Tess' pregnant belly, "your wish is my command, wifey"

Alex saw how Tess' face became softer and she gave Nick a peck on the lips, then she gave him a gentle pat on the arm, "good, I forgive you. Now go to the kitchen..." Nick smiled and kissed her again before leaving the room. She then turned to Alex, "Alex, what do you want to drink? We have this really good beer...", she saw him lean forward in the sofa and hide his face between his hands, "or maybe wine..."

Alex heard Nick's laughter from the kitchen and he grunted, Tess looked at him very confused. At that moment Nick entered bringing a tray of food followed by Fiona who brought the cutlery, "Aparently Alex is too married to drink a beer"

Tess and Fiona looked from one brother to another, but just Tess was able to express her confusion, "what are you...?" she was interrupted by a really crancky Alex, "Shut up Nick, I just said that I didn't want a beer at 2 a.m." He saw how Tess tried really hard to suppress a smirk, "No, not you too"

"I'm sorry Alex, but you've never refused a good cold one before. But what I don't get is what has this to do with being married? Nick is married and he drinks beer at any time" Tess saw the smirk on Nick's face get wider as he went again to the kitchen to bring the plates.

"Nick recalled the time when I was a root rat and I had to be thrown out of the pub and I just said that…"

"Now he's a respectable married man" Nick finished for him, trying to suppress his laughter.

Tess just smirked, "I don't know what you've done to him Fiona, but you have changed Alex outside down. Alex a respectable man... I didn't see that coming. I have to call Drovers and explain it to Stevie and Jodie" Nick was back again with a tray with four of glasses and cold drinks and the table was finally settled. Alex rose up from the sofa.

Fiona, still a bit groggy from the long trip, kissed softly Alex on the lips and then smiled happily, "I think it's very sweet of him to change out of love..." She said looking lovingly at her husband eyes.

Tess smirked again and just raised an eyebrow at Alex. He saw the sarcasm in his brother and sister in law's expressions and just replied "Or maybe is this bloody jet lag... So the sooner we have lunch the sooner we get to have a nap" Tess opened her mouth to reply when Alex said, "yeah, yeah... just one hour's nap. I'll set the alarm and you can wake us if we don't get up on time" He pointed at her with his left hand and incisively said, "and not calling Drovers to tell the girls the tale that Alex Ryan has changed into an old respectable married man because as soon as I get over this damn dizziness I'll drink your husband under the table"

Tess took his hand, fondly kissed his cheek and cheerfully said, "That's the Alex we all know and love" Then, arm in arm, they went to the table where a smiling Nick was waiting to have lunch. They failed to see how the sappy smile fell off of Fiona's face when she listened to her husband outburst.

"Come on Fi, I'm starving and these 'empanadillas' look delicious. Thinking twice I reckon I'll give that argentinian beer or yours a chance, Nick" Alex said as he sat.

"I knew that my _respectable_ brother couldn't resist a cold beer" Nick rose from his chair and winked at his wife as he went to the fridge to bring the drinks. Fiona faked a smile and followed everyone to the table. For the first time since they got married she got the feeling that she hadn't as influence on Alex Ryan as she thought.


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2**

Alex Ryan tossed and turned for the tenth time in bed. He turned to his left and saw the time at the alarm clock, he groaned: '_Just right, 3:30 a.m.'_ why had Nick and Tess to be right about this damn jet lag? When he went to bed after having lunch, he got into a heavy sleep and nobody, even Fiona, could wake him up. He had skipped dinner and now, after being asleep for more thant twelve hours, he felt a void in his stomach.

He didn't dare to get up not to wake Fiona, who was sleeping peacefully by his side. She hadn't said much at lunch probably because she was as exhausted as he was and wasn't in the mood to take part in the chirpy conversation between his brother and sister in law. Tess was still a chatterbox who could speak for hours about anything and Nick seemed to be infected with her liveliness since they got married.

He felt hunger pangs in his stomach and was starting to weigh getting up when he heard the door of his brother's bedroom open and someone making their way to the kitchen slowly. He got up, opened the door without making noise and went quietly to the light in the kitchen. He leaned on the doorframe, there he saw Tess open the fridge door and look for something, "care to share with a famished man?"

She jumped and put her hand in her chest. "You gave me a scare, you tool. Never ever startle a heavily pregnant woman. Do you want me to have an early labor?" She closed the fridge door and touched her belly as if making sure that the baby was fine.

He laughed quietly as he entered the kitchen: "Yeah, that would make Nick really happy, ha! I forgot to ask before, how are you? with the preeclampsia and everything" he said as he put a hand in Tess belly.

She sighed: "I'm fine... well as fine as I can be. I'm on a diet, that's why I ate a salad instead of empanadillas on lunch. Every three days I check on my blood pressure, if it gets too high I got to be on bed rest until the next checking. I've admitted to hospital twice as a matter of urgency since we returned to Argentina. First when your father died and then one week before your wedding. I got really scared but Nick, by being by my side holding my hand, helped to ease my mind" he saw how she smiled and played with her wedding rings at mentioning her husband. "But... we are tough, aren't we baby?" she said as she tapped gently her belly.

Alex felt his niece or nephew kick: "Oh, hello you. It seems that he or she is awake. Do you…?"

"know the baby's sex?" he nodded. "No, we don't." She caressed gently her baby bump. "Every time that we've been at the hospital they had made me an ultrasound but our main concern was the baby's health nor the sex. When the doctor said the baby's condition was strong and healthy, we just asked to hear its heartbeat and we cried of happiness" The baby kicked again. "Oh, I think junior is really hungry"

Alex tapped his stomach and said. "Oh, mine too" They burst out laughing until they heard someone clearing his throat on the door, they turned and saw Nick leaning on the doorframe half asleep.

"Is it a private party or I can join it?" he said with a hoarse voice.

"Oh sorry Nick, did we wake you?" Tess said looking guiltily at her husband.

He shook his head, "Nah, I just turned in bed and felt that your side was empty, as you took your time to return I got into worried daddy mode and I got up to see if something was wrong"

Tess' face got soft "Nothing is wrong, daddy. Junior wants a snack, so I came to feed the baby. But your brother here is starving because he was too asleep to have dinner" she said giggling.

Nick entered the kitchen and shook his head at his brother, "We told you, the only way to get over..."

Alex cut him, "Yeah, yeah... get into Argentina's routine. I'm sorry but I was so exhausted after travelling for twenty hours that when I hit the pillow I just couldn't open my eyes. I think I dreamed Fiona telling me something like dinner was delicious and..." He stopped when he heard Nick and Tess laugh.

"No, you didn't dream it, Fiona was trying really hard to wake you, but you were snoring so loudly that not even a bomb could have woken you" Tess said as she approached the fridge door again.

"So what did I miss at dinner? I hope it was really good because right now I've this void in my stomach that is begging to be filled with food" Alex said as he rubbed his hands in anticipation.

"The famous Nick Ryan's Spanish Omelette!!!" Nick proudly announced as he saw by the corner of his eye his wife open the door fridge and duck looking for something. "What do you think you're doing, wifey?. You know that you should be resting not bending down in that fridge" He took his wife by her shoulders and made her sit on a chair.

"The famous what?" Alex said perplexed.

"Nick Ryan's Spanish Omelette. As its name says it's an Spanish receipt that a workmate gave to me before he left to Barcelona for good. It's easy to cook and has a delicious taste. Tess loves it" Nick went over the fridge and took a plate covered with tinfoil.

"Yeah... I really miss Mario and his cooking. Every time he invited us at his place we would be surprised with a delicious Spanish dish." Tess now had a dreamy look on her face "But my favourite ever is _Tortilla de patata y pan con tomate" _she said in her best Spanish accent.

"What the hell...?"

Tess laughed, "Spanish omelette and bread with tomato" as she saw the skepticism in Alex's face she continued "You just have to taste it and then you'll want to have a second helping"

"Maybe if I have it with that beer..." he said still not convinced. Nick chuckled as he was busily preparing dinner to his brother and a healthy snack to his pregnant wife. Alex looked at his watch and said smirking, "well, it's 5 p.m. at home so I reckon it's safe to say that I can have that beer without disgracing my respectability"

Nick opened a bottle of beer and gave it to his brother, "so you admit that I was right about the argentinian beer..." he said as he brought him a glass and slapped Alex in the back of the head when he drank directly from the bottle "where are your manners _respectable man?"_.

Tess smiled happily as she saw the brotherly banter. She rubbed her belly with her left hand and noticed how the baby kicked insistently. "The baby is kicking again. I reckon junior wants their father to stop teasing uncle Alex" She then added in a baby voice, "daddy feed mummy!!!"

"Hold your horses hungry woman" Nick went to the countertop and brought two plates to the table, one for Alex with a big portion of Spanish Omelette and three slices of bread with tomato and one for Tess with one slice of the Spanish treat. He then put his hand on his wife's belly and smiled as he felt his son or daughter kick again "maybe junior wants their mother to eat her bread and go directly to bed where she should be sleeping instead of sitting at the kitchen at 4 a.m." he said and kissed Tess on her forehead.

Alex saw Tess took her slice with her right hand and bite it happily, he mimicked her and took a bite. He chew it hesitantly but he found that it was really good and tasty. He saw how his brother and Tess looked at him expectantly. "Well?" His brother asked, he just shrugged and said "Not bad"

He saw the disappointment in his brother's face and concealed a smirk getting another bite of the delicious bread, but Tess didn't give up "Just try the omelette". After having a gulp of beer, he did as he was told, he chewed it slowly and found it delicious but he hadn't finished teasing his brother and his wife. He made them believe as if he was weighing up his answer and then said nonchanlantly "It's interesting" He saw the defeated expression of his brother's face and he laughed inwardly.

Tess stared at him intently and then held out her arm to his plate, "well, if you don't like it, then give it to someone that really appreciates Nick's cooking"

Alex held tight his plate and said, "Hey that's my dinner!!". He saw how she raised an eyebrow at him and he gave in. "Ok, ok. This is delicious. Congratulations mate, you're a great cook".

A satisfied Tess looked at his husband and said, "see, I told you that he would love it" then proceeded to eat the last mouthful of her bread. Nick smiled and got her a glass of water. When she chewed the last bite of her meal and drank her water, she indicated her husband with her index finger to approach her and then she tenderly kissed his cheek. "That was delicious, hubby"

Nick helped her to rise from her chair and as he put his left hand on her belly he talked to his baby, "now that you're properly fed, I reckon it's time to get your mummy into bed. So say goodnight to uncle Alex" He kissed the baby bump and then his wife's lips. Tess giggled and with a baby voice said, "goodnight uncle Alex"

Alex chuckled, "goodnight, sleep well". He then saw his brother pass his right arm over Tess shoulders and kiss his wife's forehead as they slowly went to their room.

As Alex took another bite of his dinner, he thought that he couldn't wait to treat his own wife into a snack at 4 a.m. and mentally noted that he should ask Nick to send him the receipt of that Spanish dish. He then looked at his now half empty glass of beer and added five boxes of that argentinian brew to his sending list. One of them would be for the Drover's girls, as he brought the glass to his lips again he wondered if Stevie would like the surprise.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3**

Alex listened attentively at Nick and his friend Carlos discussing their new project. He couldn't believe what he had just heard, they were asked to supervise a cattle farm where Samson's were thinking about crossing Hereford and Friesian cows and they were talking of two thousand and five hundred heads!! It was the biggest project he had ever heard of and now they were looking at the farm's location in the map. He took a sip of his beer and listened to his brother saying, "it's too far from Buenos Aires and I can't leave now that Tess' due date is coming."

"It's just an hour flight from here, you can go and come back in the day. And Strauss is asking specifically for you" Carlos answered back.

"I can't do that to Tess again, not more flights until the baby is born. She gets so anxious when I'm flying that her stress' levels and blood pressure get high and she ends up in hospital." he shook his head adamantly "I'm not risking the life of my wife and future baby for a cattle farm. No matter how big the contract is"

Carlos looked up from the map and sighed, "you know that I'm only the messenger. Strauss has the final say" he then looked at Alex. "What do you think? It's worth the trip?"

Alex let out a puff and scratched his neck before giving an answer, "I don't know mate. This is the biggest project I've ever heard of. If it were me I would say yes without a doubt but…" now he was looking at his brother, "I understand his arguments. Tess and the baby come first." He then spoke again to Carlos "Maybe it can be delayed until the birth… as cows aren't in season yet"

Nick sighed, "it's not the breeding what worries me, that's the icing of the cake. It's the previous fieldwork that we have to do… that's the hardest part"

Carlos nodded, "yeah, we have to supervise all the fields, take samples of the grass the stock will be feeded with and send them to the lab where they study if there is any trace of toxic substances. Once they give their approval, we supervise the construction of sheds, fences for the paddocks, watering and feeding troughs…"

"Then we bring the stock and separate them in groups of fifty females" Nick continued with a frustrated tone. "Then our vet's team supervise the size, weight and age of every cow and inject them hormones to accelerate their heat and that takes ages… Then we bring the stud bulls and the frozen semen and wait for nature to make its part"

Carlos smiled and said, "in ten months we expect to have over twenty-five hundred healthy calves" and then he added with a smirk "Strong as their fathers but with their mother's eyes. Let's cross our fingers"

Alex laughed, then he raised his bottle and said "here's for the healthy calves and their beautiful mothers" Carlos mimicked him and even Nick couldn't help but laugh at his brother joke as he too raised his bottle. Alex patted his brother and said, "it looks like hard work but nothing that we haven't done before"

Carlos looked at him, "You have done this before?"

Alex nodded, "yeah at Wilgul, once. Nick had just bought the farm and he had this big project on his head, he wanted to cross Hereford and Friesian. I helped him with the arrangements, we had to rebuild the sheds, fix the troughs, buy the cattle… We did it all by ourselves… but we weren't lucky"

"What happened?"

Alex looked at him, shook his head and answered, "real life"

Nick saw Carlos' puzzled expression, so he explained "the worst drought in a decade. Alex had to return to Killarney to help Harry, so I was all by myself. The pastures were dry and there wasn't enough water for the cattle, so the girls from Drovers and me decided to join our stocks and forces on a muster. After five days of walking under the sun, they developed an eczema and we had to stop on a farm to treat them. We managed to salve the most of them. But when we returned, although they have gained weight, they weren't in shape to breed so I had to sell them to the slaughterhouse to recover my investment."

As Nick was talking, Alex came up to the table and studied intently the plans as he took sips of his beer, "I wonder if we could try something like this at Killarney. I know the old man would have killed to be a part of a project like that"

Nick shook his head, "no, not with Friesian. They don't fit in the heat, and they need a lot of water… Angus would be a better choice…"

Alex just nodded, "I reckon you're right… Neil Thompson has been breeding Angus in his farm, I could give him a call and try to get a good deal"

"How many heads are we talking about?"

"Don't know, maybe five hundred?"

"That's a good start… I reckon the nord paddock is big enough for the stock to eat while you build the separation fences… tell Dave to bring Hereford's semen so…"

Alex shook his head smiling "No need, we have it. Harry made freeze semen from King Harold and we have Alexander the Great to make the cows happy…"

"Where would you build the sheds?"

"West paddock? It's the closest to the house"

Nick took a sip of his beer and nodded, "yeah, that would be good…"

Carlos listened attentively at their conversation as he sipped his drink. He smiled as he noticed that the brothers had a close bond and how good they seemed to work together. He cleared his throat to attract their attention and then he said to Alex, "what would you say of working three weeks on a real breeding program?"

Alex looked at him baffled, "what do you mean?"

"That you go to Santa Rosa instead of Nick and be his link in the farm. You can update your brother on every detail so he could work on them from here and at the same time that would be a good field experience for your little farm project" Alex smiled as he thought that Harry would be turning over in his grave if he heard Carlos refer to Killarney as a 'little farm'. "I think that Strauss can be easily convinced that Nick Ryan's brother is a good substitute for his top one Specialist"

Nick shook his head, "I can't ask Alex to do this, he is just married and on his honeymoon…"

Alex pondered Carlos' offer. "It'd be a wonderful opportunity to retrain and learn new farming skills I could use to upgrade Killarney"

Nick looked at his brother, "yeah, if everything works right you can raise Killarney's trading profits and the farm would lead the breeding programs in all Gungellan"

"I can see Harry laughing in his grave" both brothers started to laugh, remembering their father's dreams of a Ryan Empire. Then Alex more seriously said, "but there's a problem…", he saw how Carlos and Nick's smiling faces fell, "I don't speak Spanish"

Carlos smirked and said, "Well, that can be easily settled. I'd go with you and I'd be your interpreter and guide"

Alex smiled and offered him his hand, "then you have a deal, mate", Carlos took it and they happily shook their hands, Nick smiled and raised his bottle.

"I think I better go and talk with Strauss to settle everything" Carlos picked all the papers up and he turned to Alex, "I'll call you later with all the details, it'll be a pleasure working with you, Alex" then he left the room with Nick "_Adiós Nick, saluda a Tess de mi parte_"*

"_Adiós Carlos y gracias por todo_"

When Nick entered the living room again, he saw Alex looking at his bottle "I reckon we should celebrate this with a drink, but mine is empty" he said as he turned it upside down.

Nick laughed and went to the kitchen to bring two cold bottles. He gave one to his brother and they clinked. He then put a serious face and said, "thanks mate, this will make Tess very happy"

He shruggered "you're welcome, but I did for me too" he looked into the distance "you know, when I accepted Carlos' offer I wasn't thinking only in my career but also in my child. I need to provide for my family now"

Nick took a sip of his beer and then sighed, "you've to talk to Fiona. She was eager to go home"

Alex nodded "yeah, but she'll understand" although inwardly he doubted his wife would be that understanding, he knew he should have that conversation in the privacy of their room to avoid making a scene. In that moment they heard the door open and Nick went to greet his wife. He saw how, after kissing Tess, Nick took the bags she was carrying of her hands and made her go to the sofa to rest.

Alex shook his head and laughed as he heard Tess chirpily said, "we bought presents for everyone and we had lots of fun, didn't we Fiona?" Fiona could only nod before Tess added, "I saw that little jumpsuit and I couldn't help myself so I bought it for junior" she patted her belly "you will look so cute in it, honey. But we didn't forget daddy and we bought something for him, too" she smiled lovingly at her husband "a blue shirt to match his beatiful eyes"

Nick smiled and leaned to give his wife a kiss, "thank you, beautiful"

Fiona leaned her head on his husband shoulder and sighed "I'm exhausted after going round the street market, she made us stop in every stall"

Tess nodded, "of course, we have to compare before buying, that leather belt that we bought for Stevie was a bargain" Alex smiled and said quietly "I bet she will love it"

At the mention of Stevie, Fiona stood up and said, "well, tired or not, we should go to our room and start packing for tomorrow. I don't want to forget anything"

Alex took Fiona by her hand and as they headed to their bedroom, he seriously said, "baby, we need to talk"

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*Translation: "_Bye Nick, give my regards to Tess"_

"_Bye Carlos and thanks for everything"_


	4. Chapter 4

I want to say thanks to everybody for all your kind reviews.

I'm sorry _no milk left_ but I couldn't write the talk between Alex and Fiona because I really disliked them as an item. I never understood how Alex could have fallen in love with a spoilt city princess and I really hated their conversations_ "baby this… baby that…"_, not one of the writers finest moments. It wasn't just like him, I mean come on he wasn't the same Alex Ryan who at 5x14 _"Love and obsession"_ didn't know how to break with the other Fiona and asked Stevie for advice and then he messed up by phone, jejeje that was like Alex. Ups I'm going on and on so I better stop…

Anyway here's the next part. I hope you like it

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**Part 4**

Alex listened to the laughter at the other side of the phone, "_I can't believe it, Alex Ryan drinking coffee"_

"Yeah, yeah... but I had to choose, either I drank coffee or argentinian mate, and believe me that mate is the most bitter beverage I ever had. The first time I tasted it I was sick at the stomach"

He heard more laughter "_you mean you've tried it more than once?"_ and then more fits of laughter

"What do you want me to do? Here drinking mate is like a daily ritual and it would be very rude of me to reject it. But after the third time I tried to drink it, as they saw in my face that I was getting sick, they would only offer me coffee", he heard her guffaw again and he gloomily said, "it's not that funny"

He heard her trying to suppress her laughter, "_Oh Alex, you're such a whiny"_

He sighed "I thought that YOU would understand me" that seemed to soften her

"_You're right, I'm sorry… wait a moment Alex"_ he could make out another female voice and a discussion "_Sorry Alex but I have to leave you. We have a bit of an emergency here at Drovers. Tell Tess I'll call again tomorrow" _after a pause "_It was good to hear you again, Alex, you've brighten up my day. Bye"_

"Bye Stevie. It was good to hear you too" he finished the call.

He smiled at the phone, as he looked one more time at the report he had been reading for the last hour, he thought that she had brightened up his day too. When the phone rang twenty minutes before he was in a sour mood, Tess and his brother had gone to the doctor for a checkup and he was alone in their living room trying to decipher the figures in the latest report that he had been given. At the beginning their conversation was ankward, but after the first pleasantries were exchanged and she asked him about his life in Argentina, the conversation progressed smoothly.

As he read for the third time the same paragraph without coming to any conclusion, he decided to take a break. He went to the kitchen and took a beer, he sat at the stool and wondered what kind of emergency were the girls in. He looked at his watch and mentally calculated the time at home, 8 a.m. He smiled and shook his head, everything was urgent at eight in the morning. As he calmly took a sip of his drink he could imagine Stevie giving orders and all the girls moving around the property in a rush. He laughed quietly, he could clearly imagine Jody grumbling about the last chore she had been ordered and Kate talking non-stop about the latest vet novelty as they rode their horses.

At that moment he heard the front door and just ten seconds later Tess and his brother came in the kitchen hand in hand and smiling.

"I take it all went well"

"Yeah, my blood pressure is normal and the obstetrician said that the bub is properly fitted and he reckons that I'm not going to have a difficult labor" Tess couldn't hide her happiness as she flopped down into the stool next to him.

Neither could Nick, "yeah, it could happen at any moment. But Dr. Romero said that first babies are usually late, so all we can do is wait" he kissed her head and added, "why don't you go and relax on the sofa while I get dinner ready?"

Alex answered letting out a theatrical sigh, "oh thank you mate, I'm really exhausted"

"I meant my beautiful wife who is carrying my baby, you tool" Nick helped Tess to stand up and kissed her again. She waved to Alex smirking and left the kitchen. He then turned to his brother, "shouldn't you be looking through the farm papers?"

"Yeah… but this evening I can't concentrate on figures, statistics and that mumbo jumbo" he said with a frustrated voice.

Nick laughed, he knew that his brother had always hated paperwork, he was a man of action who was able to work on the land for hours without complaining but who couldn't stand one hour of desk job. "Well, if you give me a hand with dinner I can help you with that report later."

As they ate dinner, they exchanged information about the breeding program. Since Alex returned from Santa Rosa's farm they often discussed work at home. Sometimes even Tess took part on their conversations because, although she hadn't work on the land for a long time, she wanted to be up to the minute on farming innovations, she was still the principal owner of Drovers after all. He couldn't help but envy his brother as he noticed the affinity of the married couple. Tess was more than Nick's wife, she was his partner in every aspect of his life. Someone who shared and understood all his aspirations.

He had been working for Samson's for more than three weeks and not once, in their phone conversations, Fiona had asked him about his job. The conversation always revolved about her and how much she missed him, if he tried to talk about his achievements, she would always cut him in, _"baby, when are you coming home?"_

But the truth was, he didn't want to come home yet, he wanted to finish what he had started. This job was more than a challenge, it was a turning point in his career. Not only he was learning new farming skills but, for the first time in a long time, no one queried his decisions. This was a team work, they always took his opinons into account and he felt respected. He was enjoying every second of his life in Argentina. But what he loved the most were the chats with his brother at dinner, they would discuss the development of the project and Tess would always ask about some detail, usually they would drink beer but Tess, who had to settle for a lemonade. It felt like the old times when the Ryan boys and the Mcleod girls, after a long day of hard work, sat at Drover's veranda with a beer in their hands and talked and joked until dinnertime. The only one missing was Claire. His Claire.

Now that he was alone again in the living room, he couldn't help but think about his soulmate. He sighed and closed his eyes, as he always did when he thought about her. He could see Claire's mocking smile as she called him "_Maid Marion"_ and her laughter… he had always loved hearing her laugh. The best sound on earth. He also remembered the night Charlotte was born, he had never been so scared, they cried and laughed when the beautiful little girl came to this world in the middle of a paddock, he still could hear her sweet voice saying "_take me home_". He then remembered them dancing in their hotel room in Melbourne. She was barefoot and was wearing that huge bathrobe. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her, she looked so beautiful. He would always remember that moment "_Can I get a word in?" __**"Make it quick"**__ "I love you". _One of the best memories of his life. He could feel how tears came to his eyes. He shook his head and opened them. He shouldn't cry, he was supposed to be happy, he was married to a beautiful woman and they were expecting a baby. He was supposed to have got over her death, as if he ever could move on…

He sighed, he couldn't think like this. It wouldn't do him any good. He took his bottle and took a sip of his beer, that always helped to clear his mind. He then noticed a framed picture of Tess and Stevie in the cabinet. He stood up and got closer to watch it carefully. They were smiling widely to the camera and they looked as if they had had a good time. Then he thought about his previous conversation with the redhead and how easy was to talk with her again. She seemed really interested in his new job and kept asking him details about Santa Rosa's breeding program. His thoughts now went to the times when he and Stevie would work together. Or how she would appear at his door in the Killarney's old homestead with a six pack to make up from their last argument. Then they would joke as if nothing ever happened and he would suggest to go to the next pool comp at the pub, she would laugh and would say. "_I thought the great Alex Ryan didn't need a partner to win those bumpkins"_, then she would shove him lightly with her shoulder, "_you know that I love playing pool"_

He then realized how much he missed talking to Stevie. At that moment, Tess and Nick's bedroom door opened and he could see his brother looking for him, he put the picture at its place on the cabinet and said, "in here, mate" then a very agitated Nick popped in, "Tess' water broke!!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Part 5**

Nick gave his address to the driver and then he flopped down on the back seat. He hadn't realized how tired he was until he got into that taxi. He hadn't slept for more than thirty six hours and now his body gave way to exhaustion. But it was worth it, being awake, sitting in that shitty chair on Tess' room, Tess clasping his hand at labor, eating that horrible plastic food, every second of that was worth it just at the moment he held his little beautiful princess in his arms for the first time. Her perfect little nose, her tiny fingers and toes, that beautiful mouth, everything was perfect in his daughter. The first time he saw his baby girl he fell immediately in love with her. He couldn't take his eyes off her.

He smiled and closed his eyes as he recalled the events of last night.

~*~

_They were in bed, but neither was asleep yet, Tess tossing and turning, she just couldn't be still._

"_What is it?" he asked as he turned the light on, Tess turned to his side of the bed and shook her head, "I don't know, I just can't get comfortable, my back aches and I feel this pressure on my bladder". _

_He kissed her forehead, "do you want me to rub your back, maybe that can help", she nodded and he helped her in a sitting position, he then proceeded to massage carefully her back, until he heard her moan and felt her body tense._

"_Nick, stop this isn't… arghhh" at that moment he felt the sheet getting wet under his legs and Tess turning around with her eyes wide opened, "my water…" she panted. He nodded making her know that he had understood, he softly kissed her head to calm her down and got up, she grasped his hand, "Nick?, don't leave me, the baby is coming…"_

_She could barely conceal her nerves and he knew that she was scared, he was scared too, but he needed to be focussed for Tess and the baby's sake, so he took her hand to his lips and kissed it gently, "I know, beautiful, I know… But we have to get dressed and call the hospital" He caressed gently her hair, "I'm going to look for Alex and tell him, it will only take me a minute, ok?" _

_She nodded. He smiled reassuringly, "ok"_

_The moment he left their room, he lost his poise and started looking for his brother, he heard him calling from the living room, as he arrived to the door he said, "Tess' water broke!!"_

_Alex seemed like he had just come round, "oh mate, what can…?"_

_He approached him, "I need you to call to the British Hospital, the number is in my agenda. Ask for Dr. Romero, he's Tess' obstetrician. Then call for a taxi… I have to go to Tess, she is very agitated"_

_He then returned to their room, he breathed twice to reassure himself and opened the door, there he found Tess standing in front of their bed and holding her belly with her right hand, he run to her side, "what is it?"_

_Tess let out a puff, "I think I had my first contraction"_

_He smiled, "next time you can clasp my hand as tightly as you want and scream that all this is my fault, wifey" that made Tess smile "but now we have to get dressed, Alex is calling a taxi for us to go to the hospital"_

_Ten long hours later, they heard a loud howl and, seconds Dr. Romero saying, "¡es una niña preciosa y sana! Enhorabuena" * He brushed back gently the strands of hair from Tess' forehead and kissed her, she was crying from exhaustion and smiling of happiness at the same time, and he thought that he couldn't love her more than he did at that moment. When the nurse asked him if he wanted to cut the umbilical chord, he just nodded. With a shaky hand he cut it and returned to his wife's side, she smiled at him sharing the same overwhelming emotion as they kissed again. Then a smiling nurse came bringing in her arms the squirming little bundle of joy wrapped in a white blanket and gave it to the eager mum. He saw as tears came to her eyes when she saw her daughter for the first time, she didn't even try to wipe them away, they were tears of happiness. She brought a shaky finger to the baby's tiny face and caressed her gently. That made the baby settle. She took in every feature of their little girl. Then she looked at him smiling, "she is so red and wrinkled"_

_He was mesmerized by her, he leaned and kissed her little forehead and smiled when he felt his daughter frown "Nah, she is perfect. She is the most beautiful baby in the world, she looks like you" and kissed his wife again, he then caressed the baby's little left hand with his huge index finger and felt how his child hold it tightly with her tiny fingers "oh, and she's strong"_

_Tess laughed lightly and the baby opened her eyes, "hello you, hello my darling. I'm your mummy and daddy is here too. Do you want to meet him? Yes, you do", she turned to him, "do you want to hold her?"_

_He nodded, __he had a lump in his throat and he couldn't speak, he took his daughter from her arms and cooed her, he couldn't believe that he had created that perfect little creature who now was moving her arms up and down, "she's so full of energy" he held the baby in the crook of his arm and leaned over to show his wife the restless girl._

_Tess smiled, "of course, she's a Mcleod" _

_He chuckled and shook his head, "and a Ryan too" he looked at Tess, "she needs a name. We can't call her BOMR"_

_Tess smiled sadly, "no, that was Claire's brainchild… and it would be confusing for our little girl and Charlotte. Claire would be…"_

_He whispered, "perfect" Tess looked at him confused, he showed her their baby, "our little Claire"_

_She smiled widely and nodded her head at his suggestion, "our little Claire…", she looked at her daughter, "… and Ruth… after my mom"_

_He nodded and whispered to the baby who had fallen asleep, "Claire Ruth Ryan. Perfect" _

_At that moment, the nurse came to them. "Lo siento, Sr. Ryan. *__ We have to take your daughter and her mummy to get them clean and run some tests. Then we'll wheel them to your wife's room"_

_He nodded and gave his daughter to the nurse, who put her in a little bassinet, and then he leaned to Tess and kissed her softly on her cheek, "I'm going to get Alex and tell him the good news" he then looked at his watch, "when they bring you to your room, we can call Drovers so you can talk to Stevie and Jodi" Tess nodded happily and they wheeled her to a long corridor, he waited until they were out of his sight and went to meet Alex at the waiting room._

~*~

He heard the driver tell him that they had arrived. He opened his eyes, smiled and paid him. He climbed the stairs to his house's door tiredly and opened it.

When he came in, he could hear his brother talking with someone, "she is perfect, she is so cute when she frowns and that tiny little nose… …of course I'm going to spoil her rotten. I've bought her the biggest teddy bear in Argentina" he greeted Nick with a wave, "…no, she looks just like Tess, she screams like her too" he chuckled, "…listen Fi, I've got to leave you. Nick has just arrived and we're going to celebrate… …yeah, I will… …I love you too" and he finished the call. "That was Fiona, she's very happy for you"

Nick smiled, "I'll call her tomorrow from the hospital so she can talk with Tess"

Alex got up from the easy chair smiling and patted his brother on his back, "that calls a celebration, what do you say? beer?"

He put a poker face and raised an eyebrow, "what do you mean with beer? are you saying that the birth of Claire Ruth Ryan doesn't deserve a bottle of Champagne?" he saw Alex hesitate and chuckled, "gotcha… beer is good for me. We can leave that Champagne bottle in store for my girls' homecoming"

As Alex left the living room, Nick flopped down to the sofa and rubbed his aching leg. When the nurse announced him that visitor's hours had finished and that he had to leave his wife's room, he got angry and tried to argue with her that he should spend the night by Tess' side in case she needed him. It took all his wife's powers of persuasion to convince him to go home, their daughter and her were fine and she needed him to bring her bag and the baby chair. But now, as he sat in that comfortable sofa, he realized that they were right, he needed a good night's sleep to be rested and refreshed to bring Claire to their home and he couldn't do it properly in that uncomfortable plastic chair.

When Alex returned with the two bottles, he found his brother rubbing his leg and looking into space.

"Here…" he said offering him a bottle and then pointing to his leg, "is it hurting?"

"Yeah… my leg couldn't take one minute more in that plastic chair. But…"

Alex interrupted him laughing "But I bet they had to kick you out of Tess room, to make you come home"

Nick smirked, "I would spend a month in that shitty chair for Tess and my little girl…" his expression softened, "she's a beauty"

"Yeah, she's a beautiful little princess…" he grinned "and she lives up to her namesake, have you seen how tightly she took my finger? She is strong…"

"And she has a set of lungs, she was howling so hard when I cut the umbilical chord that for a moment I thought that I had accidentally hurt her" then he added proudly. "She is stubborn too, she doesn't like to lie face up so everytime we put her on her crib she turns until she is on her left side"

Alex chuckled "then she definitively takes after the Mcleod's"

Nick laughed, "that's what Tess said" then his face took a gloomy expression "I hope that she takes after Tess in everything else too"

Alex knew he meant his cardiomyopathy, his brother's biggest fear was to pass his sickness to his children. He knew that Claire was too young to be tested and that they needed to wait for at least six months to know if the baby had a healthy heart. He also knew that she will have to visit a cardiologist periodically until adult age to check that she won't develop a cardiomyopathy while growing up. He patted his brother supportively, "she is going to be fine, just like Harrison…"

"She isn't like Harrison, Alex" Nick snapped, he then realized his abruptness, "I'm sorry… it's just that with Tess difficult pregnancy it feels like she has gone through a lot, and she is so small and seems so fragile…"

"… but she's strong and stubborn… and I know she is going to grow to a healthy beautiful girl who is going to break a lot of hearts…" Alex continued "and you will enjoy every second of it"

Nick smiled, "yeah, being with Tess when Claire was born was the best experience I've ever had, I felt like I was witnessing a miracle" Alex raised an eyebrow "I know that I was there at Harrison's birth, and don't get me wrong I love my son, but when I was in that room with Sally I felt like I was just helping her to deliver our child, I wanted everything to go fine for him… and then I held him, I loved my boy since the first time I had him in my arms, that wonderful surprise… but that's what it was, a surprise… I didn't share any emotion with Sally other than admire our son" he sighed "I didn't even have a say in his name, Sally chose it, the nursery… Sally's choice. Since the first moment it was all Sally's choice, even hiding her pregnancy to me"

Alex nodded, he remembered those difficult times for his brother and Tess, they were just married and what seemed like a perpetual honeymoon ended abruptly when Sally reappeared heavily pregnant and proclaiming that Nick was the father.

Nick continued, "but Claire was different since the first moment. I wanted a baby with Tess, we planned to have this baby together. And then…" Nick took a breath and Alex patted him again "Claire is my miracle because I know she's the reason my wife didn't let herself die when I 'died'. She took care of herself for Claire's sake and tried very hard to get over my 'death'. Then I came back and the first thing I saw when I got off that plane was my wife pregnant and smiling and that image helped me to get over the mugging and the fact I had been robbed eight weeks of my life, that I missed the moment Tess discovered she was pregnant, that I missed her first ultrasound…" Nick got up and left the room.

Alex looked at him confused but followed him, he found his brother at the nursery looking at a framed ultrasound of his baby girl, "but one night Tess made me feel Claire moving in her belly and I felt that everything was real. I talked to Tess' womb every night for my baby to know me, I felt her kick for the first time. I was there when Tess was in hospital, I held her hand when she had an ultrasound, I heard Claire's strong heartbeats." Alex saw Nick's face light up with a wide smile "I pampered Tess. I always made something special for dinner, ant then gave her a massage. I went to birth lessons with Tess, I practiced the breathing with her, I shared every moment with her" he pointed out the room to Alex "we decorated the nursery together, we bought every piece of furniture and every cuddly toy together, we named her together"

Alex smiled "and you did a wonderful job"

Nick nodded and added, "I was there when Tess fed Claire for the first time, I can tell you that she was very hungry and she sucked eagerly. In that she takes after the Ryan's" Nick chuckled and Alex burst out laughing.

Nick waited for his brother to calm down and said, "that's why Claire is special, because I created her with Tess and the best feeling you could ever experience is sharing every moment of it with the woman you love. That's what makes you feel a father, not biology"

Alex nodded and said, "I reckon this moment deserves a toast"

Nick raised his bottle, "for the most beautiful Ryan princess ever"

Alex clinked his bottle with his brother's, "for Claire Ruth Ryan, who is going to have her daddy wrapped around her little finger forever"

The two brothers laughed and drank for the newest member of the family, hoping that everything would turn right for her.

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* Translation: 1 "_It's a beautiful and healthy little girl! Congratulations_"

2 "_I'm sorry Mr. Ryan"_


	6. Chapter 6

**Part 6**

"…she is sleeping now… …yes, I made sure she ate something… …no, there's no need for him to fly home… …I know Tess, but you need him more, there is nothing he can do here… …no, we aren't alone, Sandra is here with us… …yes, I know, but she is being very supportive… …yeah I hear her crying… …take care of the little princess… …I know Tess, bye" he finished the call.

He sighed, he felt like crying again. In less than twenty four hours he had passed from utter happiness to be home again with his wife and his future child to complete devastation in just one sentence "_I've lost the baby_". And the phone ringing all evening hadn't made things easier, he knew that their neighbours were concerned and sympathetic to their loss but that only made Fiona more upset and she went to bed crying.

He had been fine until that last call from Argentina, he had heard little Claire crying for her mum, probably because she was hungry and it triggered his mind to think about his unborn child who would never have the chance to cry for a feed. He shook his head and got up, but as he saw the phone again he remembered the moment his plans for the future were washed away.

~*~

_He was looking at the phone, thinking that he should be calling at Jim, he would know what to do, Jim always knew what was the best thing to do… and then she appeared dressed in her pyjamas and white robe._

"_It's gone… I've lost the baby Alex" she said crying._

_He quivered, "are you?… are you sure?" she lowered her head sadly "… or … it's… it's a chance?" _

_She shook her head crying "maybe I… I did something wrong… you know went somewhere, ate something" she was devastated._

_He got up, "nah, nah, you didn't…" he went to her "it's not your fault, ok?" he hugged her, she was shaking "it's nobody's fault"._

~*~

He had a lump in his throat, he had lost his child. The baby that had ruled his world for the last two months, had dissappeared like a snap, just as fast as he entered his life.

He liked to think about his baby as a son, he had always wanted to have a son. He even bet with Tess that Claire's baby would be a boy. He lost, of course, and he was a happy loser when he met his goddaughter, his only little beautiful princess until baby Claire was born, but he missed a boy, a little boy to play with, to teach him how to ride. He would have been the best rider ever in the district and of course a real country boy who would have driven his mother crazy with all his pranks. Those thoughts made him smile, he would have been so proud of his boy and he would have made sure that his son knew it.

He looked at a framed picture of him and Nick at Nick's wedding and remembered his words "_the best feeling you could ever experience is sharing every moment of it with the woman you love. That's what makes you feel a father_", he could clearly see the dreamily smile on his brother's face as he talked and he wanted to experience that feeling one day.

He looked at the box with the necklace that baby Claire had chosen for his wife and couldn't help but remember her words_ "I've done a terrible thing, Alex"_. He knew she was depressed after the miscarriage and she blamed herself of everything, but he wondered what she really meant with those words.

He felt his mouth dry and went to the kitchen to have a beer, he opened the fridge door and saw six bottles of that argentinian brew he used to drink at Nick's home. He took one, he wanted to revive those relaxed and happy moments in Buenos Aires. Everything was right, his son was alive and sheltered in Fiona's womb and his best friend's main headache was getting Drovers off the ground with the Gungellan Flesh contract.

He took a sip and remembered how happy he was that morning, he took an early flight to surprise his wife, he couldn't wait to see her face when he showed her his presents. Then he would take one box of that beer that he had made send to Killarney two weeks before and he would go to Drovers to celebrate with the girls, he would tease Stevie about his mastery in cattle breeding and surely she would respond rolling her eyes, "_yeah, right"_.

But what he never expected was to see Sandra at Killarney again and those venom words "_if the police call about Stevie I'd like to know hey?… she's been questioned about Harry's murder"_ he shook his head in disbelief, how could anyone think that Stevie would kill Harry? Sure she was feisty and had always quarreled with Harry, but who in the district hadn't? Even Nick and him had occasionally fought against their father's ambitions to dominate all the area. But he knew that Harry Ryan was hated but at the same time respected by everyone in Gungellan, he might had been a cold-hearted businessman but his investions had brought a lot of money to the district and every farmer benefitted from his ambitious plans.

At the very moment he found that Stevie had been arrested he knew that there was only one thing to do, going to Drovers to see her. He wanted to make sure that she was right, but when he stepped off Fiona's car and heard her teary words "_Alex… I didn't do it, I swear_" he knew she wasn't. He went to her and hugged her, he could feel her shaking so he held her tight. He closed his eyes as he remembered how right it felt to comfort her.

They were mates and they understood each other so well that they only needed their body language to know what the other was feeling. In many ways Stevie knew him better than his own wife and when they met that afternoon after the disastrous farmer's meeting at Gungellan, she proved him again her unconditional friendship. Even in her lowest moments she always cared for him.

~*~

_They met at the boundary fence and Stevie went to him, he could sense her turmoil._

"_I've heard about the Gungellan Flesh meeting, bloody Phil Rakich, ha" he tried to conceal his sadness with a joke._

"_Yeah, who needs him?" she tried to joke with him._

"_Hmmmm" he sniffled, damn tears._

"_You Ok?" she looked at him concerned._

_He didn't want to worry her, she had enough in her plate as it was, she didn't need to know their misfortune. But when he looked at her concerned face, he just caved in "Fiona lost the baby"_

_He saw how she hesitated, opened her mouth to say something but she couldn't, at last she said "when?"_

"_A while ago… she's now resting. Sandra is looking after her" he looked at his bike, he couldn't look at her, he couldn't take her simpathy. Not now. He saw how she took off her gloves._

"_Is she Ok?" she used them to shoo the flies away._

_He nodded, "yeah, she seems alright... Might see a doctor, wanted to be alone"_

_She clicked her tongue, "it isn't right" she shook her head "You shouldn't have to go through this" she tried to make visual contact with him._

"_It's Fiona to feel sorry for" he looked at her eyes and they shared a look "she wanted… this baby so much" he was in the verge of tears._

"_So did you, mate" she tried to smile and she touched his wrist to comfort him. He felt her warm touch and he suddenly felt like crying. Stevie had managed to make him cry, he didn't cry with his wife but one touch of his best mate made him give in. _

"_Yeah, I did" he nodded with a lump in his throat "there would be more babies, I guess", he needed to stop this conversation before he couldn't stop his tears, so he started his bike and simply said "but we wanted this one" and then he left._

_From the wing mirror he saw her lowering her head and looking at the ground sadly, he knew she felt sorry for him but he had to be strong to help his wife to get over it._

~*~

He knew that she would have offered him a shoulder to cry on, but now she had to focus on her defence. Life wasn't going to be easy for her or any girl from Drovers since they had quit Gungellan Flesh. Jody had called him to offer her condolences and she explained that Regan and her had managed to contact a good solicitor for Stevie. Tomorrow morning would be their first meeting, he silently wished Stevie good luck.

As he took a sip of his beer he prayed for tomorrow to come and that everything would turn right for the two most important women in his life, his wife and his best friend.

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Ufff... this chapter is kind of depressing, but I saw again chapter 6x21 to inspire myself to write this part and I got caught in the gloomy atmosphere. I promise that the next one would be more cheerful.


	7. Chapter 7

**Part 7**

Nick was sitting in their bed with his back against the headboard, with Tess seated between his legs with her back against him as she nursed Claire. He rested his head on her left shoulder and was staring intently at his beautiful daughter. Claire had her eyes open as she sucked and looked at him too. He smiled and caressed her little forehead gently.

It was their Sunday's ritual, they would sleep in and they would spend part of the morning in bed playing with Claire, it was family time. After their princess had her breakfast they would get up and prepare theirs together, they would talk about their week, not that they didn't talk in the weekdays, but Sunday was their day, not business talk was allowed in the conversation, their topic could only be them as a couple or their family.

Since he married Tess, Nick loved Sunday mornings. He could relax and spend time with his wife in bed just being lazy, doing nothing but talk quietly, sharing caresses and kisses and, his favourite, making love.

But now that Claire was part of their family, Sunday mornings were even more special for him. He could be a part of the most intimate moment between mother and daughter, Claire's feeding. Everytime he saw Tess breastfeeding Claire, a wave of tenderness run all over his body, he couldn't think of a most beautiful moment, and being a part of it made him feel privileged.

Tess talked quietly as always to not disturb Claire, "next Wednesday we're going to the doctors"

Nick simply nodded, he couldn't take his eyes of his baby daughter, "uh huh"

She turned her head and made him look at her eyes, "Claire will turn eight weeks old and luckily we will get the all clear" she said with a pointed look.

He looked at her confused "all clear?" then he got it and smiled mischievously "ahhh, **that** all clear" he looked again at his daughter who had decided that she had had enough breakfast and now was making funny sounds with her little mouth, "what do you say, princess? Next Wednesday you are going to be a good girl for daddy and you're going to sleep all night, aren't you?" he said as he took her in his arms and leaned her little head in his shoulder to make her burp.

Tess was buttoning up her pyjamas top "I would be satisfied if she slept for four hours in a row" Tess said with a sigh, "because my little darling is always hungry at night, aren't you honey?" she said in a baby voice as she caressed the back of her little head.

Nick tapped gently his daughter's back and shook his head, "nah, next Wednesday night she's going to have dinner and then she'll go directly to bed because mummy and daddy want a little bit of privacy" he turned his head and kissed her tiny cheek "you know, to have one of those boring grown-up's conversations that you don't like" Claire burped quite loudly and moved her little arms and legs, "so that means we have a deal?" he held her gently in the crook of his arm, took her little right hand with his index finger and shook it, that made Claire smile.

Tess laughed at her husband's joke, then she looked at him teasingly, "so we're just having a grown-up's conversation…" then she whispered in his ear "and what are we going to talk about all night?"

He wiggled his eyebrows at her "well, hello would be a good start… then I will tell you how beautiful you are… maybe I will continue with how much I have missed you and if I play my cards right…" he lowered his voice only for Tess to hear him "I will make you say my name again and again" and he winked at her.

She laughed happily "and what are we going to wear for the occasion?" she said as she touched the side of his face with her index finger suggestively.

He feigned he was thinking about it, but the wide smile in his face gave him away, "hmm, let me think… well that blue nightie and red dressing gown that you wore in our honeymoon would be perfect… and me, well I think…" he was interrupted with a loud squeak from Claire, she was protesting against her parents' lack of attention.

They laughed and Nick caressed gently his daughter's beautiful head as he shook his, "see? I told you that you wouldn't like grown-up's conversations" that made his wife laugh even louder.

At that moment they heard the phone ringing in the living room. Nick sighed and gave Claire to his wife. As he got up to answer the phone he shook his head, who could be the unscrupulous one to disturb their Sunday morning?

Tess looked at her daughter smiling mischievously, "I reckon daddy has been a little frustrated lately, don't you think?" as she saw Claire's face turning red and heard her groan, she said "Oh Claire, not again. I just changed your nappy and now it's daddy's turn…" she tickled her little belly and Claire smiled at her mother. As Tess could smell the stink from her daughter's nappy, she shook her head and said "but you can't wait for him to finish the call, can you?"

Tess had changed and dressed her daughter with the cute jumpsuit that she had bought with Fiona in the markets, but still no sight of Nick. She sighed and decided to get changed and go to the kitchen to prepare their breakfast. As she passed the living room, holding Claire in her arms, she could heard her husband talking with a frustrated tone, "…I know Alex, but you can't leave her alone, not in her state of mind… …I can't stand her either but she's family…" he looked at her and shook his head, making her know that it was going to be a while. She nodded and smiled at him supportively then, kissing her daughter's head, she went to the kitchen.

Half an hour later, a tired Nick flopped down in a stool by the kitchen's table. Tess turned around and saw how her husband passed his hands by his hair and sighed frustratedly, she turned off the heat and went to sit by his side. She caressed gently his back and asked, "what is it?"

He looked at her and shook his head, "you won't believe what happened yesterday at home…"

She now had her eyes wide open, "what?" as he sighed again, she got scared "you're worrying me… don't tell me it's bad news…"

He took her hand and kissed it gently, "no… no… it's not bad news… unbelievable but not bad" he smiled reassuringly and then he became serious, "but you had to promise me that you're going to listen without interrupting me" she nodded and he leaned his head in his right hand.

He let out a sigh "Well, apparently Sandra has lost her mind, literally" he paused a moment "since Alex kicked her out of Killarney she has put Kinsella's for sale, has closed her account at the truck stop and has gone everyday to visit Harry's grave forgetting to close the gate everytime" she nodded and he continued "but last night she went too far… she put her wedding dress and decided that she wanted to rejoin Harry" he saw how Tess opened her mouth in disbelief, "yeah, I know…" he looked at his daughter who was sleeping peacefully in her cot and lowered his voice "so, she went to the hill where Harry is buried and decided to throw herself into the void"

Tess gasped, "oh God"

He nodded, "Stevie was there and stopped her at the last moment" he closed his eyes "but that's not all…" when he opened them again, he saw his wife looking at him expectantly "before she tried to kill herself, Sandra gave Stevie a letter where she confessed that she killed Harry…" Tess gasped again "apparently she only wanted him to get sicker, sick enough to get scared and realize that he needed her by his side to take care of him, but she messed with the dose and… well you know the end" he shook his head and closed his eyes again.

Tess massaged his back in cercles soothingly, she knew that it was hard for him to find out that his father was killed because of his wife's madness. It felt like an incredible nightmare. She saw how he rubbed his eyes, and knew that he was wiping away his tears. She kissed his cheek gently. He opened his eyes and smiled at her sadly. "But you know… something good came of this mess, they have dropped the charges against Stevie and now she is a free woman again"

She nodded and kissed him again "what about Sandra?" she whispered.

He sighed, "they still hadn't decided if they're going to press charges against her or if they're putting her in an asylum" he shook his head, "Alex was asked to go with her until they found her a lawyer… he's fuming, you know how he hates her" he said with a forced smile.

Tess smiled lightly too and kissed his forehead, "do you want to have breakfast?"

He looked at his watch and realized that it was getting late, "it'll rather be a brunch, ha" he sighed "what I really need is a drink" he got up and went to the fridge to have a beer "here it goes our Sunday morning…"

Tess got up too, patted him gently on his shoulder and then kissed it, "there would be more…" she looked at her watch "but… technically it's still Sunday morning…" she put her arms around his waist "so… what do you want to do until noon?"

He smiled and put his arms around hers, "well, we can have our breakfast and then we can talk… rather you talk and explain to me something cheerful, like the last achievement of the smartest and most beautiful baby girl ever…"

She smiled brightly and kissed him gently on his chin, "deal!"

She went to the stove and started to prepare the dishes, when she went to the kitchen table, she found Nick by Claire's cot, caressing gently her little head and looking into space. She dropped the plates at the table and went to his side, she kissed his head and he looked at her, "I'm fine, Tess. I really am. I just wanted to be with her" he smiled reassuringly "so what's for breakfast? I'm starving…" she smiled and they sat at the table.

As he ate his breakfast, he looked intently at his wife. She was starting to get nervous and asked, "what?… you don't like it… I can make you some pancakes…"

He shook his head smiling, "no… it's delicious… Tess, I think I have to tell you something…" she looked at him with interest "but you have to promise me not to call Drovers"

She frowned, "why not?"

"Because it's kind of a secret and I don't think the girls know…"

She looked at him, "…and?"

"Last night, after the incident… you know" she nodded "well… the girls called Alex…"

She was getting impatient "obviously"

"…well, Alex and Stevie got alone at Drovers, and he got scared of her almost dying… well you know…" he rambled

"Bloody hell… Nicholas Ryan… what happened?" she blurted out, and then she covered her mouth with her hand guiltily. "Sorry"

He looked at her amused of her outburst "They kissed passionately and my brother reckons that they are in love"

She smiled, "they kissed again? Wow… but I thought that your brother was trying to fix his marriage"

He nodded, "and he was… but we did know that it was impossible to fix since Fiona deceived him into thinking she was pregnant" then he looked at her suspiciously "hang on, what do you mean with again? and why aren't you surprised that they are in love?"

He saw how she played it down with a wave as she chewed, "they kissed once in our buck's and hen's party day, nothing important… do you remember when they went in the Merc to bring my veil and the other stuff?" he nodded "well, waiting for the mechanic to arrive, they had a moment and they kissed, but they decided that there was nothing more than friendship and that they were to forget that it ever happened"

She saw how he nodded and she got another mouthful of her breakfast. But Nick didn't gave in, "and the love thing…?" she grumbled inwardly, damn Nick and all his questions.

She chewed slowly and he raised one eyebrow, "well… Stevie confessed to me that she was in love with him before he met Fiona…" he looked at her increduously "I couldn't tell you, it was a secret… and then he married Fiona… they seemed happy… so what was the use in tell anyone?"

"Yeah… can you believe it? Your pretty overseer and my non so happily married brother together?"

She raised an eyebrow, "pretty overseer? You find Stevie pretty?" she looked at him waiting for an answer, she didn't want to pick a fight just tease him a little.

He took a sip of his beer and got red, "well… not as beautiful as you are… but Stevie is…" he saw how she tried to conceal her mischievous smile and decided to tease her too so he put his best pocker face and said "Stevie is very attractive and I'm not made of stone so…" he faked that he was ashamed "well I…" he saw how her mouth fell and he laughed "gotcha…"

She hit him in his arm and laughed too, "you tool… for a moment I thought that you were going to tell that you fancied her too"

He shook his head and laughed "come on Tess, you know that I'm crazy about you and that I'm an one woman's man… the family's Casanova has always been Alex. I was the shy one, always the friend never the seducer"

"Yeah right, poor Nick… girls never noticed him" she said sarcastically.

"What? Don't you believe me?" he was flabbergasted.

"Of course not" she shook her head "You were very successful with women, Nick Ryan"

"Me? I don't know what was in your breakfast but it doesn't agree with you" now it was his time to be sarcastic.

"Oh really?" she said with a mischievous look, "let's remember… since we met I've seen you kissing my sister Claire twice…"

He interrupted her, "SHE kissed me the first time"

She made a face, "I didn't see you complain… in fact you had that goofy grin afterwards" she looked at him accusatorily "then you dated Angela, then Sally…"

He interrupted her again with a smirk "I kissed you twice before"

She smirked too "yeah, very good kisses"

"Thank you".

She faked a serious face as she resumed the list of his conquests, she loved teasing him "you kissed my sister Jody…"

He raised an arm "I have to say in my defence that no one knew that Jody was Jack's daughter then and that SHE was the one who kissed me both times"

"Twice? you kissed twice?" she shook her head, "oh poor Nick, those were hard times for you" she said sarcastically "you dated Sally again… and you went out with those camper girls… what were their names?"

He smirked and said "Sasha, Natasha and Sylvie, we only went to the pub to have dinner and Dave was there too" he looked at her "we just talked and joked, you know to show a little bit of country hospitality"

"And last but not least, you dated and married me" She then said sharp-witted, "so 'shy boy', you were quite the seducer or what?"

He laughed and then leaning in he said, "so what about you, city girl? I've been told that you were a man-eater" he was enjoying their teasing.

She shook her head, "oh, you can't believe all that journalists divulge, you know they only want to sell more papers…"

"Yeah right, you lived like a nun" he said and rolled his eyes

She put a digne face, "well, maybe in my past I was a little… 'popular'…" she then pointed her index finger at him "but since I met YOU, I've only dated twice. Just Alex and Dave. And then I married you. So it's three against six" she crossed her arms and smirked "See? I was a saint compared to you"

He laughed, "Nah ah, it's four… you kissed Simon while dating Alex remember?" he shook his head accusatoringly "You were a naughty girl, so that should count double…"

She put her hands on her hips, "no way! HE was the one who kissed me" and then leaning in defiantly said "so it's just four against six, loverboy"

They both laughed because they knew they had long got over their past and they could just joke about it freely without harming their strong relationship.

He looked at her seriously, "I really do love you, Tess Ryan. You're the best thing that ever happened to me"

She got up from her stool and went to sit in his lap. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him, "and you Nick Ryan, you're the man of my dreams" she kissed him again, "and the best kisser ever"

He smiled and kissed her, "only because it's you I'm kissing" he said with his lips in hers and they deepened their kiss. He moved his lips to her ear and started giving her little kisses that made her smile. She caressed his hair and he moved his mouth to her neck. But as things got interesting they were interrupted by a loud crying. Claire was awake and wanted attention.

He groaned frustratedly in her neck, "she has a way of interrupting our grown-up conversations…"

Tess burst out laughing and kissed him. Then she got up from his lap and went to her crying daughter. "Why are you so unhappy, darling? Mummy is here" she took Claire in her arms and kissed her little head. She went to sit by her husband's side "and daddy is here too,see?"

As he kissed his daughter's and wife's foreheads he thought that he really loved Sunday mornings.


	8. Chapter 8

**Part 8**

"…Yeah Nick I know… …and I'm worried about him too… …no, I don't think that you should come home. Alex can manage… …oh, I didn't know that Killarney was at stake… …yes, I agree, asking Bryce for help was a really bad move… …Marcus Turner? He seems nice, at least he has always been nice with me… …yeah, he told me he's staying to supervise Bryce's investment… …you can say that loud, your brother is very pissed… …no, I don't think I can get it out of him… …I'll try but I can't promise you anything… …you're welcome… …tell Tess I said hi… …is there something wrong with Claire?… …ah, routine checkups… …of course, and that's your unbiased opinion…" Stevie laughed as she heard Nick bragging about his daughter's merits "…yeah we received them, she is so cute… …yeah, she looks like Tess…" Stevie could heard Moira and Jodi speaking as they approached the study "…listen Nick, I've got to leave you, the girls are here now and we've got to check the fences… …bye, I'll call you later"

She ended the call and shook her head, damn Alex and all his secrecies, now she had to play the messenger and she knew she was going to be shot down. She pinched the bridge of her nose as she felt a headache coming, that's how Moira and Jodi found her when they entered the room.

"What happened Stevie?" said Jodi looking worriedly at her friend.

"That was Nick" she shook her head again "Marcus had just called him to talk about Killarney's new financial management…"

Jodi didn't catch Stevie's euphemism "New management?"

The redhead sighed and massaged her temples. "When Alex and Fiona got divorced, Fiona claimed half of Alex's share of Killarney. Alex contacted Bryce for help and he adviced to make her an offer to forget her claiming. Obviously, Alex didn't have the money so Bryce offered to pay her off, in exchange he would be a silent partner in Killarney. But, as it has turned to be, Bryce isn't as silent as he proclaimed. He sent Marcus to inspect his investment…"

Jodi interrupted her, "and we all know that Alex doesn't like keepers"

Stevie nodded, "yeah, he is so pissed that he has started to make bad moves and Marcus has decided to call Nick and inform him of the situation. There's no need to say that he phoned his brother as soon as they ended their call"

Moira, who had watched attentively Stevie's body language, patted her gently in her shoulder, "…and it didn't go well"

Stevie shook her head, "Nick was unaware of the situation, so when Marcus introduced himself as Bryce's assistant and told him that now he was living in Killarney to take care of his investment, to say that he was shocked would be an understatement. It didn't help that Alex just dismissed it by saying that he knew what he was doing"

Jodi now was curious, "so what does Nick want?"

Stevie clicked her tongue, "your brother in law wants me to talk to Alex and try to get some information out of him, as if…"

Jodi smiled proudly when she heard Stevie refer to Nick as her brother in law, despite of having found that she was Tess' sister more than a year before she still wasn't used to have an extended new family. She now had a sister and a brother in law and two beautiful nieces. Charlotte still visited Drovers Run every now and then, but she hadn't met baby Claire yet, she just has seen her by the pictures that Nick and Tess e-mailed them every week.

She nodded in agreement with Nick. "We all know that if someone is able to make Alex talk that's you"

Her friend shook her head, "maybe I was… in the past. But now we are barely civil to one another. We act just like neighbours but nothing else. And now, although I have nothing to do with it, I'm in the middle of the mess. Damn Alex and all his pride"

Jodi smirked, "rather, damn Bryce and his ambition"

Moira laughed, "well if we dig to the main cause of all of this… damn Fiona and her greed" that made the others burst out laughing.

Jodi now looked seriously at her friend, "so what are you going to do? Grin and bear it?"

Stevie sighed again, "I promised Nick that I was going to try and talk with Alex, although I know it's no use. So the sooner I go, the sooner I can help you with the fences at Wilgul boundary"

Jodi groaned and Moira just touched her akubra in approval, they both turned and headed to the back door. Stevie smiled thinking that no matter how her life had changed in the last months there would be always something invariable, Jodi's hatred to checking fences.

~*~

Stevie now was nursing her beer. After dinner the Drovers girls had been discussing bloke's inability to talk about their feelings. They had laughed and joked about the best topics to break the ice with a bloke, footie teams, beer, horses…

But the truth was that the three of them had their reasons to complain about the men in their lifes. Jodi was struggling with making Riley speak with his father, who had come to meet him to make up for their past, but apparently Riley held a strong grudge against him and was having none of it. She also was coping with having two men competing for her affection, because as flattering as it was, it was even more trying to have to measure every move not to hurt Matt or Riley.

Moira was very disappointed in men in general after her divorce, and was fighting against Phil Rakich's moves to get closer to her. That made Stevie smile, Moira and Phil… they would make an interesting couple.

And her… she sighed… she had had a heated argument with Alex again that morning after Nick's call. She shook her head, apparently fighting was their only way to communicate these days. But as angry as she was, she was more worried about him. After his nasty divorce, Alex had shut himself in and didn't let anyone get close to him. He even hadn't talked with his brother about his situation and that wasn't like him.

The Alex she knew and had fallen in love with was a witty man who was always willing to make up after an argument with a six pack or a pool game at the pub. She still remembered his efforts to reconcile after he told Kane to get away from her. She was so pissed at him for having meddled in her bussiness, even if it was for her own good, that she made him sweat to get her pardon.

But now he was a shadow of his old self, always working and hardly ever smiling or having fun. And now, to cap it all off, that Marcus Turner was living with him and watching his every move to report to Bryce, which was making Alex even more unsociable.

She took a sip of her beer and thought about their new neighbour, she found him attractive and knew that the feeling was mutual. She smiled remembering how he would ask her for advice every time Alex would give him a hard time. She enjoyed his company, he was charming and always made her smile. And the fact that he had sold his fancy convertible car to buy a bull to make up with Alex after calling Nick captivated her even more. Marcus Turner was an enigma and she found herself willing to know more about him.

She took another sip of her beer and prayed for old Alex to reappear soon because as much as she was in love with him, she wasn't sure how long she could resist Marcus' advances.


	9. Chapter 9

This part is set after 7x07 "Of Hearts and Hunters" but with a slight change of the plot. I don't think that australian police is dumb enough to free Rob/Matt from witness' protection if there was still a chance that his enemies could get to him. So Matt is out of danger, Kate returns home because she has just broken with Dave and Alex and Stevie… well they are still very them.

And I'm sorry for the ones who like Grace, Jodi and Tess' cousin, because she's not going to appear in my fanfic.

Anyway, here's the next part. I hope you like it

**Part 9**

Nick was playing with his daughter in their living room as every Sunday evening. He had just arrived the day before from his last trip to Santa Rosa to check on Samson's breeding program and, after being away for five long days, he could notice changes in her. Eight months old Claire was starting to emit her first intelligible sounds and she decided to start with "DA", a very loud and clear "DA", for the great pleasure of her proud daddy. His only regret was that he was away the first time his daughter signaled her favourite toy cow, Lily, and said "DA". He had missed her first syllabe, the same way he had missed the first time she clapped her little hands when her mother showed her the huge teddy bear that Alex had bought for her when she was born.

No matter that when they talked by the web-cam Tess would make Claire repeat every new achievement to her expectant dad, he felt like he missed important milestones in his daughter's life and he regretted he couldn't be there to kiss her chubby cheeks to reward her.

Since her pediatrician announced, after running some tests, that Claire had a strong and healthy heart and that it would be very unlikely that she would develop a cardiomyopathy, Nick had run out of excuses not to travel to Santa Rosa's farm, so Strauss had asked him to go there every ten days to check on the pregnant cows. After being with his wife and daughter everyday for more than six months, it became an uphill struggle to leave his family even for a few days. So he decided to buy two web-cams, one for their home and one for him, since he had to travel away at least he could see them every night.

"DA… DA…" his daughter made him wake up from his reverie, she was signaling a cuddly cow that now was resting at his feet.

He kissed her rosy cheek and leaned to pick up the toy, "you want Lily, don't you honey?" she clapped happily her hands as her father showed her the little cow, "but you shouldn't throw her to the floor, she could get angry at you" he held the toy closer to her lips and said, "so you should kiss Lily to make up" he made the sounds of a kiss with his mouth and Claire pressed her little lips to her cuddly toy, she then hugged Lily and giggled and that made him laugh too. Claire's laughter was the best sound on earth to his ears, that meant that she was happy and healthy and he couldn't ask for more. She was the cutest and smartest little girl ever and he will never grow tired of playing and spending time with her.

In fact, his office in Buenos Aires was full of framed pictures of Claire and Tess. Now that his daughter's hair was growing, she was the spitting image of Tess. They had the same colour and shape of eyes, the same little nose, the same mouth that would curve in a big smile whenever they saw him and the same wavy blonde hair. And he didn't hesitate in showing off his family to all his work colleagues, how could he not? He was married to the most gorgeous woman ever and they had the most beautiful baby girl in the world.

He looked at a picture of Harrison that was in the coffee table, he took it and showed it to Claire, "Do you know who is this? It's Harrison, your brother…" he saw how she touched the grass surface and said "DA" he nodded "yes… your big brother" Claire smiled and showed her father her toy cow "DA". Nick smiled and said "yes, he is coming next month with his mummy to meet you and he will play with you. You'll have to share your toys with him…" at that moment, she held tightly her toy cow to her little body and said loudly "DA!" Nick laughed "all but Lily, of course" and kissed her little head.

He looked at the framed picture of his two years old boy, he was smiling shyly to the camera and was holding the toy truck that he had sent him for his birthday. He really missed him, it made him sad to know that he had missed every important milestone in his son's life and it didn't help that he was on the other side of the ocean. Although he had made Alex send Sally a web-cam, he couldn't speak with his son as much as he wanted due to time difference.

He looked at the picture again and studied his son's features, Nick noticed that Harrison had his daddy's eyes and ears, but his hair, nose and mouth were his mother's and apparently he had inherited her quiet character too. According to Alex, Sally and Harrison were like two peas in a pod. He couldn't wait to be with his son again and confirm it with his own eyes.

He put the picture at its place in the table and looked at his daughter, who was staring at him inquisitively "Hey honey, where is mummy?" Claire smiled and pointed at the door "DA" Nick nodded, "yeah… she left to phone your auntie half an hour ago, but it's getting late and we should start making dinner…" he tickled her in her belly, which extracted a fit of giggles of his little princess. "So, what do you say? Should we go to find mummy?" Claire reached her little hands to his face and patted him gently, "so that's a yes?" he kissed her right hand and Claire laughed again. As he was standing up carefully with Claire in his arms, he saw Tess entering the living room, "speaking of the devil…" he said with a mischievous smile.

Claire squirmed in her dad's arms as soon as she recognized her mom and waved eagerly in Tess' direction. "Hello darling, have you missed mummy?" Tess said as she took her daughter from her husband's arms. She smiled as the baby showed her her toy, "yeah, that's Lily…"

Claire smiled happily to her mom "DA" Tess shook her head, "no, MA… MA… MA…" she taught her with the hope that her daughter would repeat those sounds.

Nick laughed, "it doesn't work like this, Tess. She will say mama in her own time"

Tess groaned "of course, as she knows how to say DA… DA… she doesn't need to learn anything more" then talking to Claire "say MA… MA…".

The little girl smiled and patted her mother's face gently saying a loud "DA!" Nick burst out laughing and Tess just shook her head "You think that you're cute, don't you little traitor?"

Nick kissed his wife's forehead and asked, "so any news at home?" he then put a face to his smiling daughter.

Tess smiled as she saw Claire laughing at her father's antics, "you know, same old same old…" she then looked at her husband "Jodi twittering about how wonderful Matt is, Kate complaining about her misfortune in love and Stevie… well Stevie and Alex being stubborn again"

He smiled "Alex, stubborn? That's impossible…" he then caressed his daughter's head.

Tess saw the time at his watch and exclaimed "oh God, it's getting late and we had nothing prepared for dinner"

Nick took Claire from her mom's arms, "don't worry, I'll give you a hand and we'll finish in no time", he then addressed to his daughter "and what does my little angel prefer? Vegetables and chicken mush or vegetables and beef mush?"

Claire just smiled at his father and showed him her toy cow, "DA". Tess and Nick laughed, "so beef it is"

They went to the kitchen and Nick put his daughter in her playpen by the table, where she was sorrounded by her toys, she squealed and crawled to her huge teddy bear and giggled as she hugged it. They smiled satisfied that their little girl was settled and, turning to the stove and fridge, they started to get all the ingredients ready for their dinner.

"So Jodi and Matt are still two shameless lovebirds" he asked as he chopped some vegetables.

Tess smiled, "you could say that. Jodi had been talking about him and all his excellences for more that a quarter of hour. She is madly in love with him" she shook her head "apparently Matt had charmed all the girls from Drovers Run too and now he is their favourite person in the world"

He looked at her surprised, he still remembered how difficult it had been for the girls to get used to have a man living in Drovers Run, they had needed a little bit of a negotiation to have a peaceful coexistence. "Really? How come?"

"Well, do you remember when Jodi called us because she had all those nightmares about one of the Mcleod's ancestors?" he nodded "she explained that he treated her with a special breakfast, spanish omelette, toast, orange juice and a rose" he nodded again, Tess smiled "well, since Kate returned from Africa, she has been very sad and low because of her break up with Dave. So one morning, Matt surprised her with breakfast in bed at the shearers' quarters… he used all his ammunition… toasts, spanish omelette, sausages, orange juice, good coffee… He said that it was a special treat for a sweet girl not to feel so lonely, and since then all the girls think that he is the sweetest man ever and they pamper him"

Nick nodded approvingly, "he is a flatterer… very clever. Women love flattering"

Tess raised one eyebrow, "talking from experience?"

He laughed and put his arms around his wife's waist, "the only woman I've ever wanted to flatter is right here" he kissed her and whispered in her ear "and I love the way you thank me every time I cook my treats for you" he wriggled his eyebrows at her and Tess laughed.

"Well if you make me spanish omelette for breakfast tomorrow, we can have one of those grown-up's conversations that you love so much" she said smiling seductively, he kissed her again and said enthusiastically, "deal!"

She moved away from his arms and resumed her cooking, "anyway, now Jodi is suspicious"

"How so?" he said as he washed the chopped vegetables.

"Because now Stevie walks around Matt sighing and complaining about how depressed she feels every time that Alex and her fight and how much she misses Rose, and Moira drops little hints of how hard is the life of a divorced working mother. And Jodi knows that all they want is a special breakfast in bed as a treat too, so she spends her time reminding them that Matt is HER boyfriend and his treats are meant only for her" she said and she roared with laughter.

He laughed too "they are too much" he saw as she put the vegetables to cook, "so Alex and Stevie have had a fight again?"

She put the lid on the saucepan and turned to him, "well, I rather say that they had a misunderstanding"

"Misunderstanding?" he asked as he took two beers from the fridge and gave one to his wife.

"The day before yesterday Jodi had a meeting in Spencer with Natural Resource Management but, quoting her words, _she and Matt overslept a bit_"

He smiled knowingly "oh yeah… I loved how we overslept 'a bit' when we started dating", he remembered a few times in which he was to blame for her being late at work. But he couldn't help it, he couldn't take his hands off her.

She smiled too, "yeah… those were great times" she shook her head, "anyway, Stevie had to stand in for her and asked Alex for help, but you know how he hates all those meetings" he nodded "so he just refused to go. She then turned to Marcus because, being a lawyer and all, she thought that he could be helpful. But when they arrived to Spencer they discovered that the meeting had been delayed to the next day, so they decided to call Drovers and Killarney and book a room in the nearest hotel. The girls, trying to play the matchmakers, convinced Alex to go to Spencer and surprise Stevie because they thought that it would be a very romantic set…"

Nick took a sip of his beer and shook his head, "oh oh… why do I have the suspition that he did something to ruin the moment?"

Tess laughed "well, when he arrived at the hotel, the recepcionist gave him the wrong room number and he went to Marcus' room, so when he knocked and Marcus opened the door shirtless and barefoot…"

"…he jumped to the wrong conclusion" he sighed "I know I would"

She smiled and rubbed his leg gently thankful that all those confusing times for them were over and now they were just a bitter memory. "…and on top of it all, Stevie was just going up with two beers in her hands…"

Nick smirked, "oh God, poor Alex… That's bloody bad timing"

Tess smacked his arm and scolded him, "don't swear in front of Claire" they then looked at their daughter who was playing with her cuddly horses and was blissfully unaware of her parents' conversation. She continued her story, "Alex just looked sadly at her and wished her that Marcus could make her happy" she laughed lightly "Jodi says that she wished she could see their faces…"

Nick laughed too, "yeah, they sure were shocked…"

"Anyway, perplexed or not, Stevie wanted to know the reason he was there in their hotel in Spencer. So when Alex confessed he just wanted to surprise her and that he had had the shock of his life, she gave him the beers and said that next time he should just buy her some flowers and that he should discuss with Marcus their speech at the meeting. She then went to her room and didn't leave it until the next morning"

"So there went their romantic evening…" Nick shook his head at his brother bad luck.

"Yeah… yesterday afternoon, after Stevie had explained everything to the girls, Alex appeared at Drovers asking Stevie for help with some stray cattle. They left in his chopper but Stevie still hasn't come back and Jodi is starting to get worried" she said and took a sip of her beer.

"Well maybe they are making up" Nick smiled "but knowing my brother and your overseer they are at their throats again about some absurd detail" he shook his head thinking that the latest would be the most likely to be happening. At that moment Claire asked for their attention as she shouted "DA" and sucked her little thumb. They knew that meant that she was thirsty.

He saw as Tess went to the playpen and took their daughter in her arms, then she turned to the countertop where her bottle was and sat in a stool next to him to give it to the eager baby. He drank too and reflected about how happy and easy his life was. Since he and Tess decided to get back on track life turned better and better for him. He wished for Alex to take a leap of faith on Stevie. Although he knew that after his nasty divorce Alex was a little wary of women, he was sure that Stevie was the right one for him and he prayed for his brother to become aware of it soon. He wanted them to be as happy as Tess and him were. Life was too short to throw it away with stupid mind games.


	10. Chapter 10

**Part 10**

Alex watched his fiancée talking lively with the girls. He noticed the reflection of the sunset light on the diamond on her left ring finger as she moved her hands animatedly. They were discussing the details of their impending wedding and he just let them do. It didn't matter to him how many bridesmaids Stevie should have, or if the canopy was decorated with roses or lilies. The only thing that mattered was Stevie saying "I do" and the rest were just stupid details.

He was playing absently with a lock of her hair, wrapping and unwrapping his index finger, when Stevie looked very seriously at him, "tell crazy Jodi here why I shouldn't waltz on heels"

He just smiled foolishly at her and said, "you can wear your boots, you will be extremely gorgeous still" and kissed her cheek gently.

Stevie smiled triumphantly at Jodi, "see?"

"Come on, Stevie… it's your wedding day we're talking about, the most important day in your life…" she then started moving her arms "you should be glamorous, sparkling, beautiful. You're going to be the protagonist…"

Alex interrupted her, "hey, what about me? I'm the groom, I'm quite important"

Jodi just played it down with a wave of her hand, "yeah, right… How many weddings have you attended? Since when people look at the groom? They are going to have eyes only for Stevie and I want her to be perfect" Stevie smiled sympathetically and kissed him "Come on Squirt, help me here" Jodi prayed to her best friend.

Kate snorted, "pfhh… as if… where was your support when I suggested lilies instead of roses?… What were your words?…" she faked that she was thinking "oh yes, Stevie is the bride and if she decides roses, so roses it is" she said mimicking her friend's voice "so, Stevie is the bride and if she wants to dance in boots, so boots it is" and she made a face at Jodi.

Jodi just stuck her tongue at Kate as an answer. Alex smiled at Stevie, "maybe we should have canola on our wedding…"

Stevie smiled widely remembering the romantic way that Alex declared his love for her in the middle of a canola field. She leaned in and kissed him again.

"Canola? What kind of flower is that?" Jodi said indignantly "Blokes… they're useless" she just shook her head when she noticed that the couple was kissing but not paying any attention to her "come on, we're planning a wedding here" she looked at the rest of the girls for help.

Kate just shrugged and took a sip of her beer, Moira shook her head admitting defeat and Regan just smiled knowing pretty well what canola meant for Alex and Stevie.

They all turned around when they heard a very loud and masculine voice saying "oy… get a room, loverboy…" they saw as Riley came with a pack of beers followed with Matt and Marcus "there's no need to show the old bachelors here your luck in love, mate" he said pointing to his companions.

Matt just sniggered and went to greet his girlfriend with a kiss, Jodi smiled mischievously "well, as you can see, Matt is happily taken, so…" they all looked at Marcus.

He retorted indignantly "hey, I'm not an old bachelor" Riley patted him on his shoulder, "of course not… you're the ladies' man" and he winked at the girls. They all burst out laughing as Marcus just muttered, "you think that you're funny. Wait to pay's day and I'll show you who is the last one to laugh"

Alex shook his head and made room to the others to sit on the veranda's table. They all looked as Jodi stood up and made her boyfriend sit at her chair, so she could sit on his lap. Matt just said "what were you talking about?" as Riley shared out the beers.

Moira smirked, "Alex and Stevie's wedding… Jodi and Kate had gone mad with all the details"

Stevie took the opportunity to tease Jodi, so she turned to Matt "Be afraid… be very afraid… if she gets like this on our wedding, just imagine what will she be capable of in her own"

Jodi made a mocking face to her friend, "he just moved in and we couldn't be happier. It feels like we are on our honeymoon so there's not rush to get married" and she smiled at Matt as she caressed his hair.

Riley smirked, "that, in Jodi's language, means come on Matt Bosnich hurry up and propose" and all of them roared with laughter.

Regan looked at Marcus and Riley and asked, "well, it's obvious why Matt is at Drovers. But what do we owe the pleasure of having you two here as well?"

Riley leaned to Regan and with his best teasing face just said "well apart from save you from the old man here, we…"

Alex protested, "watch it Ward" and then pointing at himself "this old man still can give you a couple of lessons"

And Marcus added, "and his brother can reduce your salary…"

Riley just rolled his eyes, "yeah… yeah…" then looking at Regan again "actually we are here to discuss the buck's and hen's party"

Stevie turned suspiciously to him, "why do I have the feeling that I'm not going to like what you're going to suggest?"

Jodi took the chance to tease Riley "what is it to discuss? You boys having a party at Killarney's shed sorrounded by junk food and beers and a girl stripping in front of you while all of you whistle like crazy. And we girls having a real feast, drinking good wine and playing truth or dare, getting all the juicy details about the groom out of Stevie, as we wait for the most gorgeous boy money can pay to strip in front of us"

Alex smirked and shook his head, "ha ha… that, in my experience, just could end in a disaster" as he saw the puzzled faces of the boys, he proceeded to elaborate as he caressed Stevie's hand "well, in Jodi and Alberto's party, Craig drank too much and confessed to the groom that he had kissed his fiancée. Alberto got crazy and wanted to kill the poor boy" he said as he burst out laughing thinking of the jealous italian.

Riley's eyes got wide as he turned to Jodi "YOU got married once?"

The girl glared at the groom, "thank you Alex" she said very pissed then, trying hard to smile, she explained to the rest of them "well, I actually never got married because we only performed the ceremony and I didn't sign the papers… it's a long story and I'm not going to elaborate further… so officially I've always been a single woman" she said as she clung to Matt looking for support. He smiled sympathetically and kissed her.

Kate came to her defense, "yeah… Alberto wasn't the right one for her, he was too jealous and possessive and Jodi was a bit immature. But Matt is the one and she has really grown…"

Jodi interrupted her irritated as she saw the smirks in the others' faces "thank you Kate… you're being a great help. But can we just change the subject, please?" she prayed to her friends, "not all the parties had ended in a disaster. Look at Tess and Nick… they had their happy ending"

Alex smirked, "yeah… and we all had an interesting night" he said looking and winking at Kate, who turned red and tried very hard to hide. But Marcus noticed the exchange and shoved her lightly in her shoulder, "what did you do? I bet it was something naughty, wasn't it?"

She put her best innocent face and answered, "nothing… absolutely nothing" Jodi opened her mouth to reply but Kate pointed her index finger to her, "don't… I know all the juicy gossips of your teens, so if you don't want me to spill the beans…" and she smiled satisfied as she saw her friend closing her mouth.

"But you don't know mine…" Stevie said with a playful face as she winked and clicked her tongue at her, she then looked at all her interested audience, "well, as Nick's best man and Tess' best woman, Alex and me had to organize their buck's and hen's night. The boys would have a low key party at Alex and Nick's homestad and we were having a small party dinner at Drovers. But the naughty best man and woman thought better and we decided to hire two strippers to spice a little bit the evening" they all laughed "but the office at Fisher messed up with the adresses and sent the girl to Drovers and our hot boy to Killarney" she said with a disappointed tone, "I really wanted to see Leather Biker in action"

Alex shook his head, "you should have seen our faces when we saw a man dressed in leotards coming to us with a CD player in his hands. Nick just looked at me and said _Tell me_ _this is a mistake_"

Riley smirked and said very skeptical, "yeah… yeah… a mistake, I've caught you now and then checking me out when you think no one is looking" and he winked at him. All the girls laughed as Alex threatened him with his fist.

Stevie resumed her story, "well to make a long story short, both parties combined here at Drovers and our sweet Kate danced for us getting the cheering, yelling and wolf-whistling of all the men in the room"

Marcus looked at her flabbergasted "YOU stripped? As in dancing and undressing? Wow" then raising an eyebrow "are you going to repeat your performance?"

Jodi saw how her friend groaned and hid her face between her hands and came in her help "she didn't get undressed, she just took her hat and a glove off. If you want to see a real stripper just turn to your right and ask your brother for a performance. He is an expert, he did it twice: at the karaoke of 1997 and for all the women in Gungellan at 2002"

Moira, "I was there and it was a complete success. I remember half the women drooling for the Ryan brothers, but I have to say that my favourite was Terry. I didn't know that he could dance like that" and all the girls but Jodi looked very interested at Alex.

He raised an arm, "hey… the striptease in Gungellan was for charity and you asked us to do it" he said pointing at Jodi.

She shook her head, "no… If my memory serves me right I just asked Craig and Terry, Becky asked Jake and Tess had to work very hard to convince Nick to do it, but YOU" she said pointedly "you offered and you were a little bit offended that no one had asked you"

Riley shook his head and looked sadly at Stevie, "first he checks me out and then he strips voluntarily in front of all the district's women. Stevie you're marrying a pervert old man"

Alex looked at Marcus, "that's it, next month you're going to lower his wage…" and they all roared with laughter.

Moira looked at the young larrikin and asked "so what were you going to suggest for the party before Jodi's, Kate's and Akex's spicy past was brought into light?"

Riley smiled "well, I thought we should try something diferent like a laser skirmish game. One of my mates from the army organized one for his buck's party and everyone had a good time so he recommended it for my own, but as I'm not marrying anytime soon, I thought that I could organize one for my open-handed boss"

Alex smirked, "and now he butters me up" he looked at Stevie, "what do you say, cowgirl? do you want to share a few shots?" she smiled at her fiancé and caressed his hand.

Jodi shook her head indignantly "what is it with men and weapons? Is it supposed to be a celebration not a hunting?"

Kate smirked and waved her hand "don't mind Stretch here, she just doesn't like military tactics. But count me on, I'm keen on strategic games…"

Jodi leaned her head on Matt shoulder and groaned, "oh no… she is going to turn into Sergeant Steel again and she is going to devote her time and energies to study all the possible tactics to win the match" her boyfriend kissed her head and laughed.

Riley smirked, "so what do you say? Men against women? Killarney against Drovers?"

Moira nodded, "yeah… it could be fun" and Regan said enthusiastic "count on me, I want to wear one of those cute uniforms"

Marcus mimicked her, "yeah, it matches my eyes" and she elbowed him as she laughed.

Matt nodded too, "yeah, let's have some fun". Jodi looked at him open-mouthed, "you mean that you think shooting your girlfriend it's fun?"

He shook his head and said reassuringly, "oh honey, I couldn't shoot you, I love you too much to aim at you" Jodi smiled and kissed him softly.

Marcus and Riley rolled their eyes and said at the same time, "I can", they looked at each other and laughed. Matt hided his amusement from Jodi kissing her temple as he laughed too.

Stevie smiled, "oh how sweet…" she turned to Alex, "and you, my gorgeous fiancé…" she took his mouth on her hand "don't go in my way because…" she gave him a sonorous kiss in his lips "I WILL shoot you" she kissed him again "and you're too cute to be _killed_"

Alex smiled "who says that I won't be the one shooting you, cowgirl?"

Stevie leaned in playfully "because you're a man and blokes are so predictable that definitely I'm going to be the winner… cowboy" and she winked at him. The girls roared with laughter and the boys groaned indignantly, "come on, leave that goofy face and say something, she has just challenged you" Riley tried to make him react.

Alex made them to be quiet with a wave of his hand and leaned over to Stevie, "so if you're so sure of yourself, maybe we can make a little bet… the loser team has to prepare and serve a banquet to the winner team… not barbecue and beer, a proper meal and wine" he winked at her "my favourite dish is roast beef"

Stevie looked at him suspiciously "and you're telling me that because…"

He smirked, "just look at your team. You have Moira and Regan who don't shoot, pacifist Jodi and Kate, the strategist"

Riley smirked too, "don't forget clumsy Tayler and Rose"

"Thanks mate" Riley just bowed his head "And I have Riley, an ex-soldier, Marcus and Matt, great shooters"

Stevie raised an eyebrow, "don't forget Patrick, who is even clumsier than any of my girls" she then turned to Moira and Regan "not offence"

Moira played it down, "none taken"

At that moment they heard the phone ringing in the house and Regan got up to answer. Alex looked at his watch and smiled, "and that's my ace, calling to give us the details of his flight"

Jodi smiled, "I can't wait to see Tess again and meet my niece" since her sister called telling them that Nick had been given two weeks off to attend the wedding she was counting down the days until they would be together again. "Although I've seen her on my webcam conversations with my sister, it's not the same, I want to spoil little Claire rotten"

Regan appeared again, "Jodi, it's Nick for you"

Jodi kissed Matt and got up to take the call. Alex smiled triumphantly "see, it's my best man. We'll have the best shot on the district on our side" he looked at Stevie and said with sarcasm "and you'll have Tess... good luck cowgirl"

She put a face "I won't need it, Tess has improved a lot her aim and I'm sure that Nick won't let anyone shoot his wifey… so start learning to cook cowboy because we girls are going to beat you"

Alex nodded sarcastically, "yeah… yeah…" he got up and raised his beer "to us men and our relaxed dinner" the boys cheered and raised their bottles too. The girls just rolled their eyes and shook their heads.

Alex sat again in his chair and took Stevie's hand in his and brought it to his lips and, as she smiled and kissed softly his cheek, he thought that he couldn't be happier now that he was marrying the most marvelous woman in the world and he would have his whole family and friends to witness it.


	11. Chapter 11

And here it is, Alex and Stevie's wedding. I've changed slightly the plot because, even if their wedding was beautiful, I didn't like episode 7x16 "Ever After" so this is my version of their wedding.

I haven't wrote their vows because, now that my holidays have ended, work doesn't leave me enough free time to watch the episodes as many times as I need to transcribe the dialogues.

**Part 11**

Nick smirked as he saw his brother rub his hands nervously again and again. They were under the canopy facing Drovers veranda waiting for the bridal parade to appear. It was the same canopy that was used at his wedding and, as he saw Aler looking at his watch for the umpteenth time in the last five minutes, he couldn't help but let his mind wander to that wonderful evening two and a half years before when he and Tess became husband and wife. The happiest day of his life. Finally, after overcoming lots of obstacles and setbacks, he had married the love of his life and, knowing that he meant the world to Tess too, he couldn't be happier.

Alex looked at his watch again and shifted his weight from one foot to the other nervously, Nick smiled and patted his shoulder, "she's coming… well I think she is" he said humorously remembering the same words that Alex had told him on his wedding day.

Alex turned to him and said sarcastically, "hilarious… really hilarious Nick" Marcus raised an eyebrow puzzled and Nick just laughed. "Those were the exact words Alex told me when Tess was late at our wedding. He teased me because I was a nervous wreck, so I thought…"

Marcus laughed, "…what goes around, comes around", Nick nodded smirking and Alex just groaned.

At that moment, the living room's door opened and the music started. Marcus patted his brother's shoulder and hurried to his position behind Alex and Nick. The first one to come out was Charlotte, the flower girl, with a beautiful cream-colored dress and smiling widely as she threw rose petals in her passing. When she arrived at the first row, she waved happily in Alex direction and he winked and smiled at her to let her know that she had made a good job. Then Harrison appeared dressed in a small tuxedo, which made him look very cute. He took so seriously his task as the ring bearer that he had his eyes fixed on the small cushion where the wedding rings lay as he walked slowly towards his father and uncle. Nick and Sally exchanged a proud smile as they saw their son perform his duty so concentrated. When the little boy arrived at the canopy his father caressed his face and his uncle ruffled his hair affectionately as he whispered, "well done, mate" Harrison smiled widely and waved in his mother's direction.

After the kids did their part, it was time for the bridesmaids to appear. One after another, Tayler, Moira, Kate, Regan, Rose and Jodi paraded dressed in simple but elegant black gowns. The only one missing was Tess. Nick sighed as his mind wandered to that awful night a week ago when his daughter got ill.

~*~

_They were peacefully sleeping when they heard by the baby monitor Claire crying at the top of her lungs. They both got up hurriedly and went to the nursery to see what was wrong with her because their baby girl used to sleep right through the night since she turned six months old. When they arrived to their daughter's room, they saw a tear stained Claire outstretching her arms to her parents wanting to be held. _

_He quickly took the baby in his arms and asked gently. "What's wrong, princess? Why are you so unhappy?" Then he proceeded to put his lips on her little forehead and found it to be warm. "I think that she has run a temperature" he said worriedly to his wife._

_Claire whimpered as she put her little hand on her right ear, Tess tried to pull her hand away to watch it more closely as she rubbed gently her back trying to soothe her, but that only caused more cries from their daughter. She hid her head in his neck trying to get rid of her mother's attempts to find what was wrong with her ear._

_He looked at their daughter's crib and discovered what seemed a pus stain in her pillow, he made Tess a signal to look at it. They exchanged an alarmed look and decided to go to the hospital._

_Three hours later, the emergency pediatrician Dr. Bignolo, after having examinated extensively Claire, declared that she had developed an otitis and she only needed a few antibiotics to beat the infection and drops for her ear to calm the pain. When they asked her if their daughter could fly to Australia in two days to attend her uncle's wedding, the doctor shook vehemently her head and said, "I'm sorry Sres. Ryan but although the medicines will take effect in a few days, the infection won't dissapear so soon and I advise against flying in the next ten days or so. The pressure difference in the cabin would make your daughter's ears hurt even more and she would be very upset and spend all the trip complaining and crying"_

_When they arrived at their house Nick was decided to phone Alex and inform him that they weren't going to his wedding, but Tess convinced him to go. She said that he had missed Alex's first wedding and it was unfair for his brother that he missed this one too. She knew it was very important for Alex and Stevie to get all their loved ones together in the most important day of their lifes and it was bad enough that she and Claire couldn't travel owing to the baby's illness, but it would be even worse if Nick didn't appear. She also said that he could spend a little time with Harrison because she knew how much he missed his son._

_~*~_

And here he was, missing his wife and daughter like crazy even if he could see them by the webcam every evening.

He woke up from his reverie as the music changed and they all could see Stevie, dressed in a spectacular white and purple gown, coming to them. Harrison turned to his uncle and said, "Auntie Stevie looks like a princess"

Nick saw as his brother swallowed and, without taking his eyes off Stevie, nodded "yeah mate, she's the most beautiful princess in the world". He smiled and patted Alex's shoulder knowing pretty well how moved he was as his bride walked the carpet to them. He saw Stevie smiling widely to Alex and he knew that not even a earthquake could make them take their eyes off one another.

He absently caressed his son's head as he remembered his own wedding, how beautiful Tess was as she came smiling to him, how he couldn't hide his emotion as his gorgeous bride said her vows to him and his clear happiness as he heard Beth Martin saying "_Friends, with great pleasure I pronounce Nick and Tess husband and wife"_ and how they couldn't stop laughing as they kissed. His son tugged at his trousers and impaciently asked, "now, daddy?". He looked tenderly at him and whispered, "no mate, not yet" and he tried to concentrate on Alex and Stevie's vows.

He heard Stevie tearfully saying, "_… and when I'm old and grey"_ and his brother humorously replying "_You'll still be the hottest woman I've ever seen in my life"_ and everyone laughed. He patted his son's shoulder and leaned to whisper in his ear, "now it's your turn, mate", he saw Harrison nod and very serious and formal turn to his uncle and auntie to give them their wedding rings. As Stevie took Alex's ring, she leaned and whispered to the little boy "thank you, sweetie" and then she kissed tenderly Harrison's cheek.

Nick saw his son smile proudly as he returned to his side, Marcus winked at the boy and mouthed "good job, mate". He smiled as he realized that Tess was right, he had to be here taking part in the happiest day of Alex's life and he shook his head knowing that, at that very moment, his wife was very upset of not being there, she loved weddings and he wished she could witness that special moment in her brother in law and her best friend's life.

He heard Beth Martin proclaim "I now declare you husband and wife… wife and husband" and everyone clapped and yelled as they kissed. He laughed quietly as he saw Harrison and Charlotte pulling faces at the couple.

The little girl exclaimed impaciently as she couldn't stand remaining still and quiet anymore "but when is the party starting? This is boring…" and everyone, including the newly married couple, burst out laughing.

The bride and groom started the procession to the marquee where the wedding reception was taking place and, as they arrived to the first row where Charlotte and Liz were seated, Alex took his goddaughter in his arms and playfully said, "come on little hurricane, let's have some fun"

And there he was having fun as he ate the delicious food that the caterer his mother recommended had prepared specially for the occasion. He sat in the head table as the best man, at his right he had his mother, who now was talking quietly with James, Stevie's dad, and at his left he had his son and Charlotte who were playing with their spoons as they waited to the cake.

He looked at the big table where the groom's men and the bridesmaids were seated and he saw them having fun. It looked like Riley was telling them jokes, he saw as Matt caressed Jodi's back as he nodded at the larrikin, Kate blushed at something Riley said and he and Marcus winked at her. He saw how the girls laughed and tried to cheer their friend up.

His mother patted his leg, "you're very quiet, honey. Everything alright?"

He kissed his mother's hand. "Yeah, mom. It's just that I miss Tess and Claire and I wish they could be here with us having fun"

Liz nodded, "yes, I know. I'm very disappointed that they couldn't make it" as he was going to reply, she raised her hand "I know… I know… it's nobody's fault that Claire had an ear's infection. But I just wanted to see my granddaughter and spoil her rotten. I bet she's a beauty"

Nick smiled thinking about his daughter "yeah the most beautiful little princess you've ever seen" then he shook his head, "and she's a handful too. She has just started to crawl all over the house and you can't turn your back on her because she instantly goes to the most dangerous spot she can find"

His mother laughed, "then she takes after you, I remember when you were her age and you made your father and me be on our toes because you always tried to explore every corner of the old house in Melbourne. More than once we discovered you had climbed a ladder or you were trying to stand up holding the most unstable chair in the house. I always said that you had the most stressed out guardian angel in heaven" and they laughed.

"If you want to see her I have brought some pictures with me that we wanted you to have. They're of Claire and Harrison when he and Sally went to Argentina" he saw as his mother nodded very moved "and you can see them too this evening when I'll have my daily webcam conversation with my wife. I'm sure Claire will dedicate us some words mainly DADA and MAMA" he said proudly.

At that moment he saw his brother and sister in law coming to them, after going round every table greeting their guests. Alex kissed his mother's cheek and patted his brother's shoulder "you two are having fun?"

His mother turned to them, "of course, darling. I always have fun at weddings" she stood up and greeted Stevie with a kiss, "welcome to the family" she then added speaking to her son, "and when are you going to give me another grandchild?"

Alex looked at his mother with wide eyes, "I just got married, mom. I haven't even enjoyed my honeymoon… there's no rush"

Stevie laughed and kissed her husband's cheek "yeah, I want to enjoy some time alone with my husband before we start adding branches to the family tree"

Nick stood up too to congratulate the couple, he patted his brother's back and humorously said, "you're very lucky mate. At last you've found a woman who will put up with you for the rest of her life" then he shook his head and let out a sigh "we had lost all hope"

Stevie burst out laughing as Alex smacked him in his head, "ha… ha… really hilarious, Nick"

Nick smirked and went to Stevie, "now seriously… welcome to the family Stevie, we're very happy for you" and he kissed his sister in law's cheeks.

Alex looked to the kids and winked to his brother, "do you think you can spare your son and niece for a few minutes, Nick? I need them to do an important job for me"

That made the two kids to look at their uncle with interest. Nick smirked and playfully scratched his neck faking that he was thinking "I don't know mate, I reckon they're too young to have resposabilities"

Charlotte shook her head vehemently, "what is it uncle Alex? I'm big enough to do anything"

Harrison nodded, "yeah, I'm big too"

Liz laughed, "I think you have two big helpers, Alex"

Alex let out a theatrical sigh and knelt down to the kid's level, "do you think you two can go to the caterer and inform him that it's time to bring the wedding cake?" he said as he signaled a man dressed in a very formal suit.

The two kids squealed "YAY cake!" and went running to meet their new favourite person in the world. The adults laughed as they saw the children's enthusiasm, "so cake is what are you going to use to bribe our children" Stevie said as she shook her head at her husband.

"Well it worked wonderfully for a 4 years old hurricane and a 2 years old rascal…" he said as he passed his right arm over her shoulders.

Liz laughed, "well if your children take after their father, any kind of food will do the trick… when he was a child the only way to make him keep still was to threaten him without food"

Stevie laughed and whispered to her mother in law, "some things doesn't change with age" and both women laughed again.

Nick patted sympathetically his brother, "oh… oh… she knows you too well" and laughed at Alex's frustrated expression.

After eating the cake, it was dancing time. As protocol dictated, the bride and groom started the dancing with the bridal waltz. Then one by one other couples joined them on the dance floor, Matt and Jodi more in love than ever, Stevie's parents and Liz and Bryce as the groom's parents… Nick looked at them as he drank a beer with a nostalgic air, he felt someone tapping at his shoulder and turned his head, it was Marcus who had a wineglass on his hand. Marcus clinked his glass with Nick's bottle and said, "here's for the happy couple".

Nick smiled and raised his beer, "yeah, and for the groom's patient brothers" and they both laughed. Then Nick smiled as he saw Sally dancing with Harrison and Charlotte, the two kids were laughing as Sally made them spin.

Marcus looked as the little boy waved at his father, "they seem like they are having a great time"

Nick sighed, "yeah… they're having a blast"

"Why don't you join them and have a good time too?"

Nick sighed again "Because right now I miss Tess and Claire terribly… I really want to be with them" he saw Marcus puzzled expression and smiled reassuringly "I mean I wish they were here with me… so I could dance with them, Claire really loves when we dance together, she can't stop laughing and it makes me happy hearing her laugh" his smile got wider "and then I would dance slowly with Tess, I love when we sway together… like the happy couple" they looked at the bride and groom who were dancing slowly, Alex with his arms around his wife's waist and Stevie with her arms around his neck and her head on his shoulder, both had their eyes shut. Nick then looked at Marcus, "and what about you? why aren't you charming some lady on the dance floor?"

Marcus laughed, "not my lucky night, mate. The best ladies are taken" he pointed out with his head at Stevie, Jodi and Sally "or someone else beat me" and he repeated his gesture in the direction of Kate and Riley who were talking animatedly on their table. Nick chuckled and looked at his watch "well, your misery is going to end soon. The time has come to see the happy couple off"

Marcus smirked, "yeah I want to see their faces when they see the car"

Nick just shook his head and hid his amusement, he knew that Alex wasn't going to take his car, they were leaving for their honeymoon in his Harley. It had a special meaning for them because the first time Alex showed Stevie that he cared about her they were riding his bike. He was sworn to secrecy so he had to feign he knew nothing. He looked again at his watch as he pretended that he was in a hurry. "Oh boy it's getting late and my wife is waiting for me by the computer so I better say goodbye to Alex and Stevie"

Marcus nodded, "yeah, say hello to Tess and Claire on my behalf"

Nick waved as he turned to the dance floor, "yeah, will do".

Marcus saw him tapping his brother's shoulder and saying something to him as Alex raised his head from Stevie's. Both brothers smiled and shook their hands, then Nick leaned and kissed his sister in law's cheeks before dissapearing in the house direction. He shook his head and took a sip of his wine as he wished he could find soon his special one too.

~*~

Even if he was now at the lonely study at Drovers, Nick still could hear the laughing and yelling of the guests as the bride threw her bouquet. He even could clearly recognize Riley's voice as he said, "Matt you've not excuses not to propose now" and everyone laughed. He smiled as he guessed that Jodi was the lucky one who catched it.

He sat at Jack's desk and turned on the computer paying attention to all the framed pictures that were on its surface. He took one of them when Claire was born and, as he waited for the computers to connect, he took a sip of his beer and thought about his beautiful wife and child who were waiting to see him at the other side of the ocean. When he heard the bip, he smiled and said "hello, beautiful"


	12. Chapter 12

**Part 12**

After paying the taxi driver and picking up their luggage, Nick, Alex and Stevie climbed tiredly the few steps to the door. Nick got out his keys and opened the door and they got in. There a little surprise awaited them, they could see little Claire standing trying to take her first unsteady steps holding tightly her mother's hands. When the toddler recognized her father she squealed happily and tried to get to him, "DADA… DADA…".

Even if he was exhausted after having travelled for more than twenty hours to get home, he smiled widely and run to his daughter and wife, "hello sweetie, hello my beautiful princess" he took his daughter in his arms and kissed her cheeks repeatedly, "You're walking!" he said proudly.

Tess smiled widely, "well we've been practicing since you left to surprise you"

Claire laughed and reached her little hands to his face as if in reassuring herself that it was really him "DADA… DADA"

Nick smiled and said tenderly to her, "have you missed me, darling? Because daddy has missed you like crazy" he then looked at his wife, "and he has missed mummy more than words can express" he leaned in and kissed her passionately.

They broke their kiss when they heard Alex clearing his throat, "ahem… come on mate take your hands off your woman, there're other people in the room" and Stevie and him laughed.

Nick shook his head as his wife smiled and went to greet her guests with a kiss on their cheeks, "you can talk! You two have spent half the flight from Sidney kissing and cuddling. I felt like the most ignored man in the world" he smiled when he felt his daughter rub her little hand on his cheek.

Alex laughed, "you only say that because you want to be pampered, you big tool"

Stevie shook her head at her husband, "I don't think Nick needs any excuses to be indulged" then she signaled with her head to the couple who were kissing again as Tess caressed her husband's cheek.

Alex raised playfully one eyebrow at her, "how come you don't spoil me like that?"

Stevie laughed and kissed him, "maybe because I haven't had the chance to miss you, we haven't been apart since you declared your love for me" and she kissed him again.

"Then maybe I should take a trip without you, so you can miss me and give me that welcome" he said teasing her.

She smacked him, "don't you dare, Alex Ryan!" he laughed and he kissed her.

They heard laughing, "come on lovebirds, let's go bring your luggage to your room and then we can give Stevie the grand tour" Tess said with a wide smile on her face.

Nick smirked, "see? They were like this all the flight, they couldn't take their arms of one another" he said faking that he was embarrassed.

Tess shook her head, "oh poor Nick, I'm sure it felt like a torture" and she smiled at the newly married couple as she saw how they followed close behind them.

Nick sighed theatrically "yes, it did" and kissed his daughter's head as she played with his hair. "Travelling with uncle Alex isn't as fun as being with my princess"

Alex protested, "don't listen to your old man, Claire. Uncle Alex is so much fun and he is going to spoil you rotten" he made a funny face at his little niece and the baby giggled. "and you like uncle Alex, don't you honey?" he said as he reached out his arms to the little girl, but the baby hid her head on her daddy's neck, "DADA" she said firmly.

Tess smiled as she saw his face fall, "don't worry Alex, after being apart from her father for eight long days, Claire is a little bit possessive about daddy. But after her nap, she will be more than eager to play with you" then as she opened a door she said, "and this is your room… you can unpack and then we'll have lunch" she winked at Alex, "I have prepared those empanadillas that you like so much and Nick had bought that fabulous beer… or you're too married to drink one" she said and they heard Nick roar with laughter.

Stevie looked at them perplexed, "it's a long story but don't worry we can catch up at lunch" Tess said as she smiled mischievously, "you're going to love it" she winked at her and they heard Alex grumble.

~*~

Alex kissed his niece's head as the baby showed him her toy cow, "moo… moo…" he smiled at her, "very good Claire, this is a cow".

Claire smiled widely and touched his face, "Le… Le…" Alex beamed and kissed his niece again, "yeah… I'm uncle Alex… You're the smartest little girl ever" he said proudly as the baby laughed.

As Tess had predicted, after having spent half morning in her father's arms and after she had woken up from her nap, her daughter was more than eager to meet her uncle and auntie. Eleven months old Claire was just like her mother in everything, not only physically but she had inherited her open nature too. She welcomed people with her infectious big smile and, apparently, she was going to be a chatterbox too because she liked to learn new words that she repeated again and again. After being properly introduced to her uncle and auntie, she tried very hard to pronounce their names and she named Alex "Le" and Stevie "Vivi" which she repeated every time she wanted to ask for their attention. It was no wonder that Nick was so proud of his little princess and he had missed her so much.

Alex and Claire looked inquisitively at the others as they heard them burst out laughing.

"I can't believe it. You went all the way to Gungellan wearing your robe and curlers to release Alex and Marcus from jail?" Tess laughed again, "this is the most surreal wedding anecdote I have ever heard of"

Stevie smirked, "and don't forget that first I had to go to a shed out of nowhere to haul Jack Waters out of his weekly poker game to bring him to the police station to provide their alibi"

Tess shook her head, "but why did you have to do that? You were the bride, you were supposed to relax and being taken care of" she then looked at her husband, "where were you?"

Nick raised his hand, "hey… don't look at me like that… I have to say in my defense that first, I didn't know that Alex was missing because I slept at Drovers not at Killarney and second Matt and me were on our way to Fisher to pick up the flower girl as we were ordered by your bossy sister" he then proceeded to imitate Jodi's voice "you two have to make sure that Charlotte arrives at Drovers safe and sound and more importantly we need her dress to be spotless" he shook his head and talked again with his voice "and you have no idea how hard is to manage to make your niece to remain still for just ten minutes. She is just like her mother, a hurricane"

Tess smiled sadly "yeah… as stubborn as a mule and always having the last word"

Stevie smiled, "and in Nick's defense I have to say that he couldn't know were to look for Jack because he always lies about where he really is on Sundays. The official version is that he is in Spencer taking care of his bussiness, he doesn't want his wife to know that he is gambling their money in a poker game. If she ever finds out I'm sure she is going to kill him, Jenny Waters has a feisty character" and they laughed again.

Tess looked at her brother in law and shook her head, "how come that everytime that we organize a wedding at Drovers something wrong gets on the way?"

Alex protested, "why are you looking at me that way? I did nothing wrong, I was just trying to help the bloke, show some country hospitality" he felt Claire rub her little hand on his cheek, "Le… Le…" and he smiled at his niece, "yeah honey, you're the only one who understands uncle Alex, don't you beautiful?"

Stevie rolled her eyes, "oh yeah, poor Alex. No one understands him…" she then grinned and leaning to Nick and Tess whispered, "ask him about the girl's dinner at Drovers" and she winked at the couple.

Nick smirked and just shook his head, "why do I have the feeling that my brother is going to get pissed at the question?"

Stevie laughed and said, "you bet…"

Tess, who always took the chance to tease Alex, put her best innocent face and asked in a loud voice "Alex, what is this private girl's dinner at Drovers I've been talked about?"

He raised his head and looked very indignantly at his wife, "Bloody hell Stevie… you had to spill the beans, didn't you?" he then saw his niece stare at him inquisitively "I'm sorry princess, but your auntie Stevie can't keep her mouth shut"

Claire smiled innocently and pointed at her auntie, "Vivi… Vivi…" Alex nodded, "yeah you're right, she's an evil woman" and then he kissed her cheek, "but you will never tell uncle Alex's secrets, will you?"

The baby looked at him smiling and clapping her little hands proclaimed, "Tiii…"

Nick laughed and said, "what my little princess is meaning in her best Spanish is SIIÍ, which translated into English means, YEAAAAH I'm going to tell everyone as soon as I can" and he tickled his daughter's belly "don't you, sweetie?" and that made his little girl laugh happily.

Stevie and Tess laughed along with Claire. The redhead looked at her husband and reassuringly said, "don't worry, honey. I won't tell the spicy details" she then looked at her interested audience, "well, for our buck's and hen's party Riley suggested us to do something different…"

Nick saw Tess' confused expression and explained, "Riley is Killarney's overseer"

Stevie nodded and resumed her story, "yeah… he told us to organize a laser skirmish game. Drovers against Killarney, girls against boys…"

Tess nodded, "well that sounds like fun, there is nothing embarrasing there"

Stevie grinned, "not if you think about it just as a game, but you know men. A game is only interesting if they can make a bet…" Tess nodded knowingly and laughed "…so my darling husband here decided to make a little bet, the loser team had to prepare and serve a real banquet to the winner team… not barbecue and beer, a proper meal and wine" she smirked "he was so sure of himself that he even told me that his favourite dish is roast beef"

Tess and Nick laughed along with Stevie and Alex just groaned, "yeah… yeah… you were lucky that my ace had to delay his trip because of his daughter's illness… otherwise things would had been very different"

Stevie laughed, "what happened to Riley the soldier, and Marcus and Matt the great shooters?" she explained to her in law's "he played my team down by saying that Moira and Regan didn't shoot, Kate was just a strategist, Tayler and Rose were clumsy, Tess just couldn't aim and the best one… Jodi was a pacifist" and she burst out laughing.

Alex rolled his eyes, "it isn't that funny Stevie"

Stevie barely could say between guffaws "not for you boys…"

Nick saw his daughter squirming in Alex's lap and moving her little hands in their direction, he stood up and took Claire in his arms, "you want to have fun with auntie Stevie too, don't you beautiful?" he said and smiled at his daughter as she put her arms around his neck.

As Stevie calmed down she resumed her story, "your sister is a piece of work, Tess" she shook her head smiling widely, "when Riley suggested to play with laser weapons, she complained against men and weapons… she scolded Matt because he wanted to take part on the skirmish, she even made him promise her that he wasn't going to shoot at her…" she laughed again "…but when the party day came and she put on the uniform, she turned into Rambo and shoot everywhere and everyone, she '_killed_' Matt and Riley to the cry '_down with men' _"

Tess, Nick and Stevie roared with laughter. Stevie's jaw hurted of laughing so loud, "you should have seen Matt's face when she '_shoot_' him, he couldn't believe it… he just looked at her with wide eyes and said, _'I thought you loved me_'…"

Even Alex laughed at the lovebirds "she spent all the evening repeating that she was so sorry and trying to make up to her boyfriend" he then smirked, "something tells me that she succeeded because the next morning he couldn't wipe the grin off his face"

Tess smiled, "I'm happy for Jodi, she deserves some happiness after all she has gone through" she then looked humorously at Alex, "and what happened to you?"

Alex looked at his wife very angry, "ask my cheater wife here" he pointed at Stevie with his index finger, "yeah… tell them how you betrayed your husband for a game"

Stevie laughed again, "oh Alex, you're such a whiny… Well at the end of the game, just Alex and me were alive. As we arrived to the flag aiming at the same time we just drop our weapons and decided to negociate…"

Alex just rolled his eyes, "negociate?… cheating more like it… I got closer to her suggesting that after our marriage we shouldn't fight over something as petty as a game and then we kissed, so I thought that we had a deal and she…" he shook his head in disbelief "she shot me"

Tess laughed and Nick just shook his head at his sister in law, "Stevie, how could you? You're a naughty girl…"

She just shruggered, "he said after our marriage and we weren't married yet, so I was allowed to shoot him" she then smirked, "everything for a free dinner prepared and served by the cutest waiters ever" and she blowed Alex a kiss. He then put a face at her.

Claire laughed at her auntie actions and clapped her hands, "Vivi" everyone laughed and Stevie caressed her head, "yeah honey… girls power"

Tess then looked at her watch, "oh dear it's getting so late…" she mentally calculated the time and exclaimed, "you've been awake for more than thirty hours, you must be exhausted! I reckon it's time to get dinner ready" she kissed Nick on his cheek as she got up from the easy chair, "do you want a beer?" he nodded and then she looked at her best friend, who nodded too. She then looked at Alex with a raised eyebrow, "what do you say _married man?_ Are you game enough to have a beer this late in the evening, or it's going to disgrace your respectability?" and she smirked at him.

"Ha… ha… you think that you're funny, don't you?"

"So I take you want beer too" she then kissed her daughter's head and smiled at her, "and you my little darling… you have the most important job tonight, prevent your old uncle Alex and your daddy to get asleep because we want them to get over their jet lag as soon as possible" and she kissed her again.

Claire just smiled widely at her uncle and pointed at him, "Le… Le…"

Tess smiled, "yeah honey. You have to play with uncle Alex until dinnertime" and she went to the door.

Alex shouted at her, "yeah… yeah… let's see who is the last one to laugh" and he looked angrily at his brother, "you could have said something, your wife is teasing us and you have this silly grin on your face…"

Nick shook his head, "come on, you seem a grumpy old man. You're just married so stop frowning, your life is supposed to be pink-coloured. I can't stop smiling because I am with my wife and my daughter again, and I couldn't be happier even if she teases me a little… in fact I love when she teases me, that spices our marriage a bit" and he winked at his brother.

Alex raised his hand, "come on mate, that's way too much information" he then added, "I just want my beer and have dinner so I can go to bed and sleep for a week" he said quite grouchily.

Stevie took her husband's mouth on her hand and gave him a sonorous kiss in his lips, "oh dear, you're so cute when you're pissed…" she kissed him again "you're irresistible, _respectable old married man_" and she winked at him as she went to the kitchen to give Tess a hand.

Alex protested indignantly "I swear to God, Stevie…" but he couldn't end his sentence as he saw his brother smiling at him.

"So you're trully happy, aren't you?" Nick said seriously.

"More than I can ever express" he then looked at the door where his wife had just disappeared "more than I've ever been" and he smiled at his little niece who was showing him her toy cow again.


	13. Chapter 13

I want to thank all of you for your kind reviews. I really appreciate them.

But I also want to say sorry because lately work it's been hectic and it doesn't leave enough free time to write properly and I know that the last parts aren't as coherent as the first ones were, but I had to write them on different days and many times I had to leave them in the middle of a sentence to answer a urgent call from work, so when I returned I didn't remember what I really wanted to write.

So I really appreciate your patience and tolerance to all my mistakes.

**Part 13**

Alex was slowly swaying to the rhythm of a distant bolero, he had his arms around Stevie's waist and she had her arms around his neck as she leaned her head on his left shoulder. They both had their eyes closed as they enjoyed the soft tune of the song. He could feel her slow and relaxed breaths on his neck and he kissed his wife's head without opening his eyes. She sighed contently and caressed softly his arms and neck, he smiled and kissed her again.

"Mmm, I love it" she whispered "I wish we could stay like this forever"

He laughed quietly, "you'd grow tired of having to wear those heels forever" she laughed too and playfully hit his left arm without opening her eyes. "But you look so beautiful on them"

The truth was that Stevie looked breathtakingly gorgeous on her red dress and heels. Earlier that evening, when she came out of the bathroom of their cabin, he felt like she had taken his breath away, he couldn't help but walk to her and kiss her passionately.

Now that they were dancing slowly under the stars, he mentally thanked Nick for suggesting him to book a cruise by the Paraná River. Stevie loved it and he couldn't think of a most romantic way of spending some time alone on their honeymoon.

He still remembered his conversation with his brother as they looked at the family's album.

~*~

"_This one was taken on our cruise down the Paraná River. Tess loved it" Nick smiled when he saw his daughter, who was sitting on his lap, touch her mother's face on the picture "MAMA… MAMA…" _

_"Yeah sweetie, that's mummy. She looks beautiful, doesn't she?"_

_The baby nodded and proclaimed "MAMA APA" he kissed Claire's forehead, "yeah, your MAMA is the most beautiful mummy in the world"_

_He looked puzzled at his brother, "what did she say?"_

_Nick laughed, "she said in her best Spanish, mama guapa, you know beautiful mummy" he smiled proudly at his daughter who was looking at them intently "she is not only learning English but Spanish too. Her favourite teacher is Carlos, everytime he comes here to bring me a report or just to have a drink with us, he plays with her and teaches her a new word, but she loves when he calls her 'la niña guapa'*, she even lets him play with Lily"_

"_Oh, that's a great honor. She only let me play with her cow after four long days of begging" he said feigning that he was indignant. Claire smiled at him and stretched to touch his face, "LE APO"_

_Nick and him laughed, "I have to admit that she is the smartest baby I've ever met. First she ignores me and now she flatters me so I can't argue with her" and he kissed his niece's cheek._

_Nick shook his head and he turned the page to show his brother another picture, "this one was taken as we danced under the stars on the ship's deck. We made a waiter to take it for us" he smiled fondly as he talked._

"_Why were you dancing on the deck? and where were the other couples?" he asked as he watched the picture more carefully._

_Nick shook his head smiling, "It was just that the band was playing tangos and the locals all danced like professionals. So we had to sneak up to the top deck so we wouldn't embarrass ourselves and we tangoed under the stars. It was the most romantic set I could come up with and Tess loved it, we danced on the top deck the whole week" he then looked at his daughter "I reckon that in that romantic cruise is where we conceived our beautiful princess" and he kissed her head again._

"_Wow, it sounds perfect" he smiled knowingly at his brother._

"_It was perfect" Nick winked at him, he then looked more seriously at his brother, "why don't you book two tickets on that cruise? So you could spend some time alone with your wife… It's not that we don't want you here" he smiled reassuringly to him "but it's your honeymoon and you should be doing something romantic instead of playing with your niece's favourite cow" he then lowered his voice only for Alex to hear him, "after a romantic evening, you'll be 'playing' with Stevie and maybe in nine months there would be another Ryan grandchild for mom to admire and spoil" and he winked at him again._

_He laughed and shook his head, "you reckon that Stevie will like it? She isn't like Tess you know… she doesn't like to dress up… she likes simple things"_

_Nick put a reassuring hand on his brother's shoulder, "she will love it, trust me. Book that cruise and surprise her, you won't regret it"_

_~*~_

And Nick was right, Stevie loved every minute of their romantic cruise. He still remembered her face the moment he showed her the tickets for their seven days trip upstream the Paraná River when Tess and her returned from their tour by the street markets, her smile could have light up the whole room and he knew that he had made the right decision. And he couldn't wipe the smile off his face during the rest of the week, she sure knew how to thank him all night long. Later Stevie confessed to him that she knew how romantic that cruise could be. Tess had explained to the girls how they had enjoyed their cruise and how it had felt like their second honeymoon when all of them mourned 'Nick's death' and she secretly had wished that she could make that trip one day. And here they were making her wishes come true and he couldn't be happier.

When he asked Nick about his honeymoon in Fiji all those years ago, when he and Tess were just married, he expected him to smirk and, using some euphemism, talk about their passionate nights. But when he saw the nostalgic air on his brother's face and his smile as he explained how many troubles he took to surprise her by booking a scuba diving day trip just because he knew that she would love it and that his best reward was seeing her face when she saw their wet suits on their bed, he just thought that he got knocked on his head.

But now, he understood his brother's feelings. The best part of their romantic trip was seeing her face as they boarded the small but modern craft and when they visited those wonderful towns Candelaria, San Ignacio, Corpus, Oro, Puerto Macuco… the splendid Teyu Cuaré rainforest reserve and Misiones jungle, the beautiful Yacú waterfall and the magnificent Iguazú falls. He never got tired of taking pictures of her face as they visited those amazing places, he wanted to remember every detail of their trip. He knew that he had made her truly happy and that was the best reward he could think of.

But tonight was their last night on board and, as they danced under the stars, he couldn't help but be sorry that their cruise was getting to its end. Tomorrow they should take a plane to Buenos Aires and, although they wanted to spend a little more time with Nick, Tess and Claire before returning home, he knew he would miss their time alone and he was sure that Stevie felt the same way.

At that moment they heard a waiter coming to them, "Buenas noches, Sres. Ryan. Aquí tienen sus bebidas"** they opened their eyes and they smiled at him as he left a tray with two stem glasses on the table "Espero que disfruten de su última noche a bordo"**

"Gracias"*** they both said as they went to the little table. He took one of the glasses and gave it to his wife and then he took his and raised it. "I want to make a toast to my beautiful wife"

She smiled widely and clinked her glass with his, "and to my wonderful husband who makes me blisfully happy" he smiled too and they took their glasses to their lips. He laughed as he saw her expression as she took a sip, "beer? You have ordered beer?"

He smiled and kissed her forehead, "you know, after drinking Champagne six nights in a row, I missed a good cold beer and I thought you would like one too. But as we are in a very elegant atmosphere I thought it should be served in the most elegant glasses that they had. So I asked for beer in stem glasses…"

She smiled widely and said, "you know me too well. I love it" and she kissed him.

He winked at her when they broke their kiss, "who says that beer can't be romantic? You only need the perfect glasses, the perfect music and a beautiful starry sky…"

She kissed him lightly on his lips, "… and the perfect man"

He kissed her again "who is married with the most gorgeous woman on earth"

He took her glass from her hand and put it on the tray. He then took her right hand on his left and put his left hand on her waist and made her dance to the melody of a waltz. She smiled and leaned her head on his left shoulder and he rested his head on hers, both of them closed their eyes as they swayed to the music. Neither of them wanting that night to finish.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Translation: * _'The beautiful little girl'_

_** "Good night, Mr. and Mrs. Ryan. Here you have your drinks." "I hope that you enjoy your last night aboard"_

_*** "Thank you"_


	14. Chapter 14

**Part 14**

Stevie was at the kitchen helping Tess to decorate her niece's birthday cake. Today Claire Ruth Ryan turned one year and her parents wanted to have a special celebration for their little princess, so they invited her little friends from the neighbourhood and her favourite surrogate uncle, Carlos. It was still an hour until the first guests would arrive but Tess was a bundle of nerves. She wanted everything to be perfect for her daughter.

"Do you think that the cake looks yummy?" Tess asked her best friend as she looked at the home-made strawberry cake with critical eyes.

Stevie patted reassuringly her sister in law's shoulder, "Claire is going to love it Tess"

Tess was still doubting, "You reckon? I want everything to be perfect. I don't want anything to go wrong… You know little children complaining to their mothers that the food tastes funny…"

Stevie just shook her head, she knew pretty well the reason for Tess' insecurity, although it has been more than three years since Charlotte's first birthday, she was still a little bit traumatized about the events of that fateful day and their consequences. "Don't stress yourself out unnecessarily, everything is going to be perfect. We have a lovely home-made strawberry cake, that we know Claire is going to love because strawberry is her favourite flavour. We also have chocolate-coated cookies, little children favourites all over the world and some healthy treats for their mothers. We have everything covered here" she smiled and then signaled to the door, "and don't worry about Alex saying anything inappropriate… I'll keep a close watch on him" and she winked at her.

Tess laughed, "I know… I know… I'm being a pain…" at that very moment the kitchen's door opened and Nick got in. "Who says that my beautiful wifey is a pain?" he came up to her and kissed her forehead.

Stevie laughed, "nobody thinks that… It's just that Tess is a little bit nervous about Claire's party"

Tess sighed, "saying that I'm being a little bit nervous is an understatement, the truth is I'm driving Stevie crazy"

Nick kissed her again and rubbed her shoulders reassuringly, he then took her by her hand and said "come with me…"

Tess protested, "Nick, I can't leave the kitchen now, I have a thousand and one things to do yet…"

Her husband shook his head "they can wait, there is something more important for you to see" and then they arrived to the living room's door, "ready?" Tess nodded and he opened the door to reveal a smiling Claire walking holding tightly her uncle's big hands. Nick called her gently and the baby giggled and called her parents, "MAMA… DADA…" he made a signal to his brother and Alex slowly let go of Claire's little hands. The little girl waddled in her mother's direction and just before she reached Tess, she flopped down on the floor.

Tess smiled teary-eyed, "oh honey, you're walking on your own" she then took her daughter in her arms and kissed tenderly her chubby cheeks. Claire laughed and pointed out the floor, "MAMA… DOWN" as soon as her mother put her down she squealed and waddled in Alex's direction, "ALE… ALE…"

Alex took her in his arms and kissed her forehead, "who is the cutest and smartest little princess in the whole world?" he said as he smiled at his niece.

Claire giggled, "CLEEER…" and everyone laughed as the little girl clapped happily.

Nick kissed his wife's forehead, "see? Claire is happy… and there is nothing more important than that" they looked at their daughter as she signaled the floor again and waddled in Stevie's direction "everything is going to be fine. So stop stressing because no matter how perfect her birthday's party will be, today's going to be important for our daughter because she was sorrounded by her family when she started walking on her own" and he kissed her head again.

Tess nodded and quietly said, "yeah… you're right" and she smiled as she saw her daughter squeal and waddle to Alex as he showed Claire her favourite's toy cow.

~*~

Alex had the camcorder in his hands, he was in charge of recording every detail of his niece's birthday's party. Her parents wanted her to have a memento of this important milestone in her life. Stevie gave him a beer and offered to tape Claire blowing out the lone candle on her cake as he drank. He smiled gratefully and kissed her softly in her lips. He took a sip and smiled as he saw his brother and his wife trying to prevent their daughter from putting her hands in the home-made cake. He turned to his right as he heard someone saying, "she is a handful, isn't she?"

He smiled at Carlos, "yeah, but the cutest and most charming handful in the whole world and she knows it" he chuckled, "she has every adult in the room wrapped around her little finger" and he signaled one of Nick's work colleagues as he took a picture of the little girl as she blew the candle. Claire saw him and flashed him one of her famous and infectious big smiles. Both men laughed, "see? She knows that she is irresistible"

Carlos smirked as he took a sip of his wine, "yeah, Mario has just met her and he is already captivated by her charms" he shook his head "I think that he desesperately wants to be a member of the exclusive Claire Ryan's surrogate uncles club" and both men laughed.

Alex shook his head, "but you beat him"

Carlos grinned, "what can I say? I saw her first" and they laughed again. They saw Nick and Mario coming to them with two plates with a slice of cake each. They gave one to each man and Nick took the camcorder from Stevie's hands, "Stevie take a break from taping and go to your niece, she wants to invite you to a piece of her cake" and then he said under his breath, "if Tess can stop her from sticking her hands in it"

Alex turned to his brother, "this cake is delicious, Tess has made a great job"

Nick smiled, "yeah… at the end she had relaxed and she is enjoying the party" he looked at his work colleagues, "well, Tess has spent all day in the kitchen cooking a storm because she wanted everything to be perfect" he sighed "and, as the evening came, she started to think about what could go wrong and she was a bundle of nerves. It took all our power of persuasion to make her relax"

Mario smirked, "so that's why she is so adamant that I should cook her, quoting her words, '_one of my terrific Spanish dishes for dinner'_ because she is too tired to cook"

Nick and Carlos shook their heads as they grinned, "she is too much, I'm sure she has already invited you to our kitchen"

Mario laughed, "yeah, she has even showed me an apron as she said, '_mi cocina es tu cocina'*"_

The three men laughed as Alex looked at them perplexed, Nick noticed his brother's puzzled expression and he proceeded to introduce him his work colleague, "Alex this is Mario, he is an agronomist from Barcelona, Spain. He works for Samson's too" he then looked at his friend, "Mario, this is my brother Alex, he owns half Killarney and Wilgul and he is running both farms since I moved to Argentina"

Both men shook their hands and Alex looked at him carefully, "I remember your name but I don't think I've met you before"

Nick grinned "well, do you remember the first time you came to Argentina and your first dinner here?" Alex nodded, "Mario's recipes _'Pan con tomate y tortilla de patatas' _Tess' favourites"

Alex shook his hand again, "oh mate, they're my wife's favourites too" he then leaned and whispered "since I learned your recipe, she is 'very grateful' when I cook her dinner" and he winked at him.

Mario laughed, "I'm only too glad to help" and he bowed his head.

"But I thought that you had returned to Spain for good"

Mario nodded, "yeah… I was hired by my former teacher to develop a project to save water in the Pyrenees cattle farms. There has been a terrible drought and they didn't want to consume more water than necessary. When we finished our program, we wrote a thorough report that was published by the university. Strauss read it and he hired me again to develop a similar program in Santa Rosa" he smirked "he even raised my salary, apparently now I'm a world expert in saving water"

Carlos laughed "and you're going to take advantage of it…"

Mario grinned, "of course, as if you were in my shoes you wouldn't milk it till the end"

Nick laughed and raised his bottle of beer, "here's for the new expert in the crew"

The others raised their drinks too as Alex looked pensively at them, "and how much water did you manage to make them save?"

Mario smiled, "it depended on the altitude and the number of cows" he scratched his neck "but I reckon that, as average for a hundred cows, they saved about ten cubic meters in the summer"

"Wow, that's impressive" Alex admitted.

Carlos patted Mario's shoulder, "but I'm sure that Strauss wants you to improve your system and save even more water"

Mario nodded, "yeah, this coming Monday I have to fly to Santa Rosa and inspect all the troughs and plumbing"

Alex chuckled, "and you'll find that they're brand-new" Carlos and Nick chuckled too.

Mario looked at him puzzled, "how do you know?"

Nick smiled, "because my brother stood in for me when Strauss started his new project and Tess was at the end of her difficult pregnancy. I wanted to be here for her and the baby and Carlos suggested Alex to go to Santa Rosa instead of me"

Alex added proudly, "so I know Santa Rosa's farm and all its systems like the back of my hand"

At that moment Stevie and Tess, with Claire in her arms, came to them "hey, no more talking about work in my daughter's birthday party" Tess scolded the men as she looked sternly at her husband.

He kissed her forehead apologetically, "I'm sorry, you're right beautiful… not more farm conversations today" he reached out his arms to his little girl and she happily went with her father. He then saw the big straberry's stain in his daughter's cute dress, "oh I see that you really liked your cake, didn't you honey?" he said as he kissed her cheeks.

Stevie laughed, "yeah, she literally couldn't keep her hands off it"

Claire smiled widely and proclaimed, "TAHTA!…"

Carlos and Mario burst out laughing "Muy bien Claire, tarta!"*

Alex looked at his brother, "what did she say?"

Nick chuckled and shook his head, "she said TARTA that means CAKE in Spanish. Mario teached her a new word that she loves"

Alex smirked at Carlos, "so Mario really is making merits to be a member of your club"

The others looked puzzled at him and he just waved his hand, "never mind, it's just a private joke"

Tess looked suspiciously at him, but turned to Stevie, "anyway, have you met Mario yet?"

The redhead shook her head and Tess introduced them, "Stevie, this is Mario. He is the Spanish engineer I have talked about to you before. Mario, this is Stevie. She is Alex's wife and she is Drovers' part owner and my right hand woman there"

Stevie put a shocked face when Mario leaned and kissed her cheeks. Alex raised an eyebrow and Nick, Carlos and Tess just laughed at the redhead's flabbergasted expression, "this is the way Spanish people greet the newcomers" Tess explained her in laws "after the first shock you get used to it, I reckon it's a very friendly welcome"

Alex looked at him suspiciously, "how come you didn't kiss me when we met?"

Mario laughed, "oh that's because in Spain we just kiss feminine strangers. If you see two men kissing in their cheeks it means they're family. If you've just met, you shake your hands. But if you want to be more intimate…" and he winked at him.

Alex shoved him with his arm, "get out of here…"

The others laughed at the scene. When Stevie recovered from her shock, she smiled at Mario "oh, it's a pleasure to meet you at last. I love your recipes"

The Spanish smiled mischievously, "so I've been told"

The redhead looked perplexed at him and Alex stepped in to prevent Mario from saying anything unsuitable, "do you know that Mario is an expert in saving water? and that he has developed a system that enables to save an average of ten cubic meters for a hundred cows?"

Stevie looked at her new friend, "oh, that's impressive"

Alex continued, "next Monday he is travelling to Santa Rosa to improve the farm's water facilities"

She then looked intently to her husband, "and you're saying me that because…?" he raised an eyebrow knowingly to her, "oh, I know that look and I don't like it. You want to go to Santa Rosa too"

"Come on Stevie, I started Santa Rosa's breeding program, it's just fair for me to be there when they improved it" he pleaded with his wife "you know, I can learn new techniques and use them at home" Stevie still looked unconvinced "you know with the drought, we need to learn every new improvement in saving water"

"But we're trying something new at Drovers, with the weeds surrounding the wetlands to prevent them from drying up"

Alex kissed her head, "and you know that Jodi and Kate's eco-friendly project is not very popular with your neighbours and it's still insufficient to supply Drovers with water"

Stevie nodded defeated, "but I still want to return home soon. Rose is going to start college next year and I want to spend the more time as possible with her"

Alex turned to Mario, "how many time do you reckon you need to start your program?"

He thought for a moment, "three weeks, four weeks tops… but we need at least three months to see if it works"

Alex put his arms around Stevie's waist, "how about you come home with your daughter and start packing to move in to Killarney as Mrs. Ryan?" he laughed when his wife slapped him indignantly in his arm, he rolled his eyes, "well as Mrs. Hall-Ryan. Then in a month I will be home with you again and we can use my new skills to upgrade Killarney…" he smiled when he saw his wife's and sister in law's threatening faces "…and Drovers"

Stevie shook her head, "but then you wouldn't see the results of the project"

Alex looked at his brother, "Nick will update us, he owes me" Nick nodded in agreement.

Stevie looked at him seriously "you have to take notes of everything Mario does and says" Alex nodded, "and then you would talk with me on the webcam every evening to update me" he nodded again and kissed her softly on her lips, "I must hopelessly love you to ever consider coming home without you"

He kissed her again, "and I love you more for that" he then offered his hand to Mario, "mate, you have got a new member for your crew" and they shook hands.

Tess rolled her eyes and said sarcastically to her husband, "and you promised me no more work talking in Claire's party"

The little girl got tired of the adult's conversation and she started squirming in her father's arms. "DADA… DOWN" when Nick put her on the floor, she went waddling in the cake's direction "TAHTA… TAHTA…"

All the adults laughed and Nick went to her, "yeah honey, you're right… let's forget work and let's go celebrate something more important, your birthday" he said as he stopped her before he put her hands again in the last piece of cake.

Alex looked at his wife as the others went with Claire and Nick, "you know these are going to be the longest four weeks of my life. I'll miss you"

Stevie looked sadly at him as she whispered, "I'll miss you too"

He then hugged her as he mentally cursed the terrible drought for making them be apart, even for just a month.

* * *

Translation: *"_My kitchen is your kitchen"_

_"Very good Claire, cake!" _


	15. Chapter 15

Hello, it's me again after a long, long of time of mad hours at work.

Work has been hectic since last october when my immediate superior announced that she was going to take half a year of maternity leave and that I'd be the one to stand in for her... that only meant lots of time of training, an incredible rise of work and resposabilities, but a slight rise in my pay. But now that she has returned I just work sensible hours and I can write again.

So here is the next chapter, let me know what you think...

**Part 15**

As he thought about his wife, Alex sipped lazily his bottle of beer. He was sitting alone in the living room of the cottage he shared with his brother in Santa Rosa while Nick had his daily webcam conversation with Tess and Claire. He sighed and looked for the umpteenth time at his watch mentally calculating the time at home and shaking his head disappointedly as he noticed it was too early for Stevie to be up, he still should have to wait two more hours to make his call. It didn't help that today of all days it was pouring with rain and they couldn't go outside, so he couldn't use the physical work to keep his mind off of his wife.

He heard his brother saying goodbye and he could clearly make out his niece's little voice saying quite loudly '_ADIOS PAPÁ_*'. He then heard the unmistakable bip that signaled that the connection was over and his brother's frustrated sigh. He turned facing the door and after a few seconds he could see Nick coming in and flopping down unceremoniously on the sofa next to him, he grinned and gave him a bottle of beer. As his brother took the top off and took his first sip, he asked "how's it going at home?" and then he added with a smirk "Has the smartest little girl ever learned a new word?"

Nick looked at him smugly "For your information, yes she has… Today she has learned how to say '_vaquita'_ and she has showed me Lily again and again saying '_papá, mi vaquita'**"_ he smiled proudly at his daughter's achivements.

Alex smiled "our little chatterbox… in no time she will speak Spanish better than me"

Nick chuckled "she does now"

"Ha… ha… really funny" he then turned serious, "but on second thoughts, she really speaks Spanish better than her old uncle Alex… even Stevie speaks Spanish better than me" and he sighed as he caught a glimpse of his watch again and he shook his head noting that still was too early to call Drovers.

Nick smiled sympathetically to his brother as he caught Alex looking at the time again, "yes mate, it's too early in Australia, they're still sleeping" and then he added more seriously, "you miss her a lot, don't you?"

"Of course I miss her, we're just married and she is on the other side of the world… and I just can't speak with her because at home they're 13 hours ahead of us and it's the middle of the night… and here I am, at midday in the middle of bloody nowhere and it's raining like in the bloody Flood, so I just can't do anything but thinking about my wife and how lonely I'm without her…" he grunted exasperatedly.

Nick looked at him in surprise, "sorry mate… I know it was a stupid thing to say, but…"

Alex furrowed his brows, "but what?…"

Nick just shook his head, took a deep breath and looked at his brother intently, "it isn't the first time that you're apart from your wife. It's just been ten days and it never mattered to you to be this long alone before" he sighed "I know that it doesn't seem like a sensible thing to say but you looked fine to me, even more relaxed when she wasn't around you. You seemed to enjoy your time here in Santa Rosa or just the three of us, Tess, you and me in Buenos Aires"

Alex looked at him crossly, "are you nuts?…me without Stevie?… We've never been apart since I said that I loved her, what the hell are…?" he broke off abruptly when he realized what his brother really meant and then he blushed "oh… OH… You meant Fiona" he sighed and looked at his brother sadly "I completely forgot about her"

Nick patted reassuringly Alex' knee "I'm sorry mate, I didn't…"

"No… no… you were right… it never mattered to me before…" Alex looked at his brother with a forlorn look on his face "you know what? I never questioned my marriage with Fiona, not even when I was enjoying my time alone here… nor when I thought about Claire every time I felt lonely… I never wondered why I wasn't as miserable as you were when you had to separate from Tess. They all were signs that my marriage was a failure but I decided to ignore them" he shook his head "I was a stupid fool"

"Don't be so hard on yourself. It's only one of those things that one realizes with the benefit of hindsight" he then pointed at himself "it's not like I've never done a few mistakes myself"

"But you never proposed to a complete stranger after the fourth day of meeting her because you were pissed off with Harry, you married her hurriedly because 'she was pregnant' and you almost lost your home at your divorce"

Nick raised one eyebrow sarcastically, "oh no… I've never done stupid things… how about living with a woman I didn't love just to make Tess jealous and making Tess believe that she mattered nothing to me? or throwing the woman I loved to the vet's arms and having to witness as they almost married?" he took a sip of his beer and made a sardonical sound with his mouth "or even better throwing myself to Sally's arms out of despair because I thought that Tess had chosen Dave over me again and then almost destroying my marriage when Sally reappeared pregnant with Harrison" he shook his head "no Alex, you haven't the exclusive of fooling around, I've made some rash decisions that could have costed me greatly"

Alex sipped his beer pensively "we were obstinate pigs, weren't we?"

Nick chuckled, "wonder who we got it from… but we had our happy ending at last"

His brother laughed and raised his beer "Here's for our beautiful wives and their generosity to give us a second chance"

Nick clinked his bottle with Alex' and smirked "a third chance in my case"

Alex burst out laughing "watch out, you've tested Tess' patience and we all know how feisty she is when she gets mad. One more mistake and you're out"

His brother laughed out loud too, "yeah… once she has set her mind on something nothing and no one can stop her. She was the only one in the district that could cope with Harry and make him grovel"

Alex drank again and looked at his brother sadly "you know? He warned me about her but I just ignored him. He sussed her out since the first moment he met her and tried to make me call the wedding off"

Nick opened his mouth dumbfounded "Harry warned YOU about Tess? He tried to call my wedding off…!"

His brother put a reassuring arm on Nick's shoulder as he saw his brother getting riled up, "no, of course not. I meant Fiona. When I introduced her as my fiancée to dad, he looked intently at her and said that we couldn't be serious… Then Fiona went to the bathroom to refresh herself and Harry just said '_two words; Gold Digger' _there's no need to say that I got really worked up"

Nick smiled as he took a sip of his beer "yeah… Harry had many defects but he was very good at judging people at first sight. He always told me that Tess was the one for me"

Alex chuckled sarcastically, "yeah… after so many years of trying to arrange your marriage with Claire" he then smiled sadly thinking about his former love, "no matter how many times she said NO, Harry never gave up his dreams of a great Ryan Empire. But Claire was too stubborn and a born fighter to fall into his clutches"

Nick chuckled too, "yeah… he just replaced Claire with Tess in his plan… as if my wifey would be easier to convince"

The two brothers laughed as they remembered how many times Tess had fought Harry's plans to put his hands on Drovers and no matter how hard he tried she always turned out victorious.

"Yeah… I still remember when dad brought King Harold to Drovers as a gift to 'the mother of his first grandchild' and he put all those cameras on Skinny Jim's to keep an eye to his favourite bull and he took that picture of Dave hugging Tess" Alex saw how his brother's face turned sombre, "and then he sent it to the whole district with that horrible sentence, what did it say?…"

"_Only paying for his professional expertise not his romantic ones_" Nick said with a very upset tone of voice.

Alex nodded, "yeah the very one… Tess was fuming when she opened the e-mail Sally had forwarded to Drovers, when she said _'I had enough'_, Claire and me feared for the worst" he then started laughing again "I would have liked to see Harry's face when he saw that all his cameras where back to Killarney" he then raised his bottle "here's for Tess' guts"

Nick smirked as he raised his bottle too "I was with him when Mum showed him the cameras at the back of the ute, when he saw the cut wires he looked at me and said '_maybe Claire brought them back, but we both know that she couldn't climb a ladder to cut the wires… she hardly can walk… this is Tess doing' _he then started laughing _'I'll have to keep a close eye to the new vet, I'm sure that she can convince him to steal King Harold and hide him on the further paddock they can find, that Mcleod girl is capable of anything'._ Mum then started complaining about Tess not being a local and never being able of fitting in… you know mum…" Alex nodded "she then started praising Sally and how good we looked together and how she was sure that Sally was going to adjust just fine to life in the country"

Alex snickered "ha ha… Mum has no future as a fortune-teller"

Nick smirked too, "neither as a psychologist… the more mum slandered Tess the more dad smiled… he then said '_get used to that Mcleod girl Liz, she is here to stay… that girl has guts'_ he then looked at me and said _'don't get her mad son, you'll never know what is she going to devise against you, since she arrived at Drovers life gets more and more interesting"_

Alex smiled "yeah… the old man loved the Mcleod's girls, but Tess was the apple of his eye"

"Dad was visiting me at Wilgul once, I was alone… He came with the excuse of discussing the agisting of some cattle in my paddocks, but he just looked at me and asked if I was happy… of course I said that I was… he then shook his head and said to me _'you just look content to me, I can't see the spark that you had before… Sally is a good girl son, don't get me wrong, but she'll never make you really happy' _obviously I got angry and I told him that my love life was none of his bussiness, he shruggered and said _'you need someone who's able to challenge you, but you've chosen someone who has passed your mother's standards… what about yours? has she met your expectations?… do you see her as the woman you'll lean on when things get difficult?' _I didn't want to hear him so I told him to leave" Nick shook his head sadly "he was giving me hints about the perfect woman for me, but I just refused to listen to him… it's ironic you know? I always thought that mum knew what was best for me and that she had always protected me from dad's ways, but it was her who ended hurting me when she plotted to separate Tess from me and dad had to mend it"

His brother smiled, "in mum's defense I have to say that she didn't like Fiona when she met her at dad's funeral"

Nick raised his eyebrows "really? I'd have thought that she'd meet all mum's standards of a proper wife"

"Nah… she said that Fiona was too eager to be Mrs. Ryan" Alex shook his head "I should have known that she was after my money. Who would want to live in the same house as Harry and Sandra? Claire wouldn't, Tess wouldn't, Stevie definitively wouldn't…" he smirked "my cowgirl would had rather slept with the horses than in the same roof with 'the couple from hell'. But Fiona coaxed me into staying to help Harry. She was playing the concerned daughter in law and I took the bite"

Nick shruggered "well, she was a great actress… She downright fooled me when we met, I thought that she was a sweet girl who was completely in love with you. She really seemed that she cared about you. Tess said that she had always been nice to her and the girls… I noticed that she tensed everytime Stevie was broached when you visited on your honeymoon but I just thought that she was a sensible topic to Fiona"

Alex furrowed his forehead, "sensible topic?"

Nick snickered, "yeah… like Dave to me, or Sally to Tess. Even as we know that we have got over our exes for a long time now and we're utterly smitten with one another, we can't help getting a bit territorial when their names are mentioned"

Alex looked intently at his brother, "she was more than a sensible topic to Fiona, she was her greatest rival. Stevie warned me about her intentions since the first second she met her. I still remember what I said to her when she tried very hard to expose Fiona to me" he looked down at his bottle ashamed of his past, "Stevie discovered that she has been engaged to another man just weeks before our engagement and what did I do? I got worked up and I accused her of undermining my last chance to be happy. So when she came that night to apologize I looked accusingly at her and I snapped _'One last chance… just felt so right… you know? it's the first time since Claire I just… just let myself go… I really got that wrong?_" he then looked up forlornly at his brother _"_she was crying, I made my cowgirl cry_, 'No…' _she shook his beautiful head and pretended to smile as she said _'No, I did'_, and she left with her head down. I made her think that she was wrong… I was convinced that she was wrong… when she was right all along"

Alex then lapsed into silence thinking about how many times Stevie had tried to prevent him making the worst mistake of his life, how many times she had tried to make him see sense. He snapped from his reverie when he heard his brother talking to him, "sorry what?"

Nick laughed, "just asking if you were thinking about your wife… but you don't have to answer me, I know that I was right by the look on your face"

Alex shook his head, "how could I be so blind, mate?"

Nick shruggered, "it comes with the Ryan genes… we're really obtuse when it comes to love" he then smirked, "but in our defense I have to say that we excel at making up"

Both brothers laughed at Nick's joke, "yeah that cruise by the Paraná river was like a papal bull to future mistakes" Alex winked at his brother and they finished their drinks. Nick took their empty bottles and raised an eyebrow to his brother, Alex nodded and he went to the fridge to replace them with new ones.

When he came back he sighed disappointedly as he saw Alex looking into space with a gloomy look on his face, he thought that with their last jokes he has succeeded in dispelling the morose atmosphere they had created before, '_obviously I was wrong'._ He'd have to try harder, he was mentally revising topics that could cheer his brother when he was interrupted by Alex, "how did you manage not to get mad?"

Nick furrowed his forehead, "get mad? when?"

"When you were separated? How did you cope?"

He shook his head, "I didn't cope, I just survived… my only consolation was that I could see her every day… but sometimes it only made me want her more" he then smiled brightly "it did help, however that she missed me too and we managed to have little secret rendezvous"

Alex chuckled, "pfff… not so secret mate, we all knew when you 'had visited your wifey' you couldn't wipe that goofy smile off your face"

Nick smirked "what can I say? We were just married, it isn't as if we could put out the sparks" and then he told himself how lucky he was that, after almost three years, their marriage was as spicy as newlyweds. He smiled as he thought that in two more days he could be with Tess again and make sparks fly. He saw as his brother got serious again.

"I just can't put up with the distance, I miss her more and more everyday and our phone conversations do nothing to alleviate my loneliness…" he then looked at his watch "and it doesn't help that the bloody time seems to have frozen"

Nick looked intently at his brother, "tell me, mate… what are you doing here?"

Alex glared at him, "what kind of question is that? waiting for my wife to get up to talk to her…"

Nick puffed patiently, "no, I mean why are you here in Santa Rosa?"

Alex raised his hands frustratedly "Are you gaga or what? I'm here to supervise the new watering system and to take notes of its development… pssst as if there was anything else to do here"

Nick shook his head and rolled his eyes at his brother obtuseness, "you're really dull, aren't you? I'm the one who works here" he then pointed to himself "it's ME WHO HAS to supervise the watering system, it's ME WHO HAS to take notes of everything and analyze the costs and profits and then report them to Strauss, because it's MY job…" he then pointed at Alex, "but YOU are here because YOU want instead" he raised his hands "you're not getting paid, you're not going to risk a breach of contract, you can go whenever you like, so if you're so obviously unhappy here, just two words: GO HOME"

Alex looked as if he was weighing up his options, "but Stevie expects me to take notes to upgrade Drovers and Killarney"

"Really? Do you think that's what she really wants? Her new husband on the other side of the world taking notes of a new watering system instead of him at home stirring up the sparks?" and then he winked at a flabbergasted Alex.

"yeah… you're right… but now she really wants those reports…"

Nick chuckled "one might think that the agriculturist who met the hard standards of an american top bussinessman would write good enough reports for a local farmer"

Alex laughed, "I don't know mate, she is very demanding"

"Just do something useful and go to your laptop to book a ticket on the next plane to Melbourne, before you drive me crazy"

Alex hesitated, "yeah… but it has to be a surprise… you can't say anything to Stevie… do you think you can distract her?"

Nick smirked "I know who'd manage to distract an army of Stevies if necessary" he then nodded to a picture of Tess and Claire "when my princess uses her charms no one can resist her" he smiled proudly "and Tess can talk about anything for hours"

Alex smiled, "yeah… I can't wait to see my cowgirl's face when she sees me" he stood up from the sofa and went to the door, but when he was about to open it, he stopped and looked at his brother, "but wait… what I'm going to tell her about the next few days?"

Nick laughed, "that the best way to save water, it's being in the middle of bloody nowhere when it's raining like in the bloody FLOOD" and Alex burst out laughing too, he then looked at his watch "now go… you've less than half an hour until you have to report to your demanding wife"

Alex winked, "I think I can manage to distract her a little"

As his brother disappeared, Nick shook his head and thanked Heavens for their patient wives who were willing to forgive all their faults and he wondered how they managed to survive all those years without them.

*_Bye daddy_

_** 'little cow', 'daddy, my little cow'_


End file.
